Random Ideas
by XPGamer
Summary: These are ideas that I randomly come up with but am not motivated enough to turn into full stories. Gonna put the rating at "M" just in case. It's Naruto/Harry because there are a few Harry Potter ideas, it's not a reference to any pairing.
1. Team 7

Hatake Kakashi wasn't exactly sure when everything had gone pear-shaped, but if he had to blame it on anything, it was most likely the preliminaries that had just concluded only a few hours ago.

"Hatake!" Barked the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. Kakashi had known the Sandaime for quite a long time and knew that when the "kind" and "old" Hokage only used a person's last name and didn't even bother adding any suffixes then it was time to jump-ship. Unfortunately, this sinking boat had only one crew member which was only over-shadowed by the fact that Kakashi was also the captain...why was he thinking about boats? What was he thinking about in the first place? Probably Icha Icha...yea...Icha Ich..

"If I have to tell you one more time Hatake..." The venerable leader grounded out, somehow not damaging the pipe that was still in his mouth.

"Ah, right...hehe, my report. Well, I'm not exactly sure what to tell you Hokage-sama" The one-eyed jounin stated blandly.

Crunch.

Well, so much for not damaging that pipe, he thought to himself as the pieces fell from Hiruzen's mouth and clattered on the desk.

"Ah, perhaps I misspoke?"

"Yes, perhaps you did. Please. Rephrase your statement into something that will not cause me to think of how to break you as easily as I broke this pipe."

Kakashi gulped, knowing he had stalled long enough. It was just, he had no idea how to put into words- that wouldn't cause him to literally lose his head -the victories that his students achieved in the prelims. Deciding that the safest route was the most obvious, he began his tale.

"Well, as you were there, I wont waste your time with the minor details. Sasuke has been training himself intensely in eye-based illusion techniques. According to him, he has been at it long before he activated his Sharingan. Not sure how, but that apparently translated into his illusions becoming even stronger when he DID get his Sharingan"

XFlashbackX

"Uchiha Sasuke. Akado Yoroi." Gekkou Hayate called out unnecessarily, though one could contest that he was simply bored and wanted something to do other than saying 'Hajime'

The two opponents stepped onto the arena floor and faced each other. Yoroi had dropped into a loose fighting stance while Sasuke simply stood there expressionless.

Hayate looked between the two, and with a shrug, held up his arm and yelled "Hajime!"

Instantly Sasuke turned around and began to head back towards the stairs.

"Call the match Proctor-san, he isn't going to be able to fight anymore" The Uchiha scion spoke in a dull fashion.

Many disbelieving eyes went straight to the older Leaf-nin only to realize how true Sasuke's words were. Yoroi, despite being prodded by Hayate, was unmoving. At least he was unmoving until Hayate pushed the contestant over and everyone watched as the teen simply fell to the ground as if he was made of stone.

xFlashback Endx

"Sasuke said that he activated his Sharingan and cast the illusion as soon as he locked eyes on Yoroi, the match was over before it even began" Kakashi finished, his hand slowly moving towards his supply pouch where his precious lay in wait.

Sarutobi nodded his head thoughtfully while narrowing his eyes at Kakashi's gesture, wordlessly advising him against such a move. The elite-jounin sighed and brought his arms up, crossing them over his chest, trying to keep them busy or at least out of the way...or something, he wasn't able to think very clearly after being Icha Icha-deprived for so long. It had been ten minutes already! The Hokage could be so cruel.

"As for Sakura, well. I suppose her skill-set came into being when she finally realized that she was the weakest link on the team. I was honestly proud of her when she came to me and asked me to train her into the ground and not let her stay there, at least until she contributed just as much as the boys did." Kakashi paused for a moment as he reflected on that day.

Hiruzen stared at the now silent Kakashi who seemed to be staring off into space. What the hell was he doing? Was he having a mental flashback?

"Hatake!" He roared, causing the sharingan-user to startle badly.

Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Kakashi continued "I got her up to snuff in the physical department and then sat down with her to figure out what she could bring to the table as far as the team was concerned. I suggested either genjutsu or medical ninjutsu. Not sure how, but she decided on poisons"

xFlashbackx

Hayate shook his head as the Suna-nin, Kankuro, walked away the victor of his match. Those puppets of his reminded the sickly toku-jounin of the stories his parents had told him about the infamous Chiyo of Suna. While this genin's collection of wooden death-machines were nothing like the images in those stories, it still put the sickly man ill at ease.

Mentally pushing the thoughts away, Hayate looked up at the selection board to see who was fighting next. However, before he could call the names out, a voice called down from the balcony.

"Ano! Proctor-san! Ino doesn't look like she can fight right now, she seems very sick. Does that count as a forfeit?"

Hayate looked up to see a pink-haired girl, Haruno Sakura he concluded by her own words, staring back down at him with a curious look on her face. Her blonde opponent, Ino, gave her a contemptuous glare.

"What are you talking about Forehead-girl? I feel perfectly fine! You're not gonna win that eas..." The girl had collapsed before she could finish her sentence and was only saved having her face smash into the cold tile floor by her jounin sensei.

Sakura turned from her friend back to Hayate with an expectant look. The man sighed, then coughed, then shook his head.

"Since Yamanaka Ino is unable to fight, Haruno Sakura wins by forfeit." He declared. He watched as the girl jumped up and down cheerfully before turning towards her dark-haired teammate, arms open wide as if expecting a hug. Of course, Uchiha Sasuke was not known for such things and surprisingly this didn't even phase the pinkette as she immediately turned and all-but lunged at her blonde haired teammate who eagerly hugged her back and praised her for her "hard-won" victory. Hayate coughed.

xFlashback Endx

Kakashi shrugged. "Sakura admitted to poisoning Ino sometime in the forest during an altercation with some Sound-nin. It was a time-delayed concoction that was made to render a person unconscious. Not sure how she timed it so well, but, that's Sakura."

Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that explanation and you are going to pretend that it was never told to you."

Kakashi blinked, then cocked his head to the side "Pretend what didn't go where?"

The Sandaime let out a long suffering sigh. "I'm not sure I can truly handle hearing the explanation in regards to Naruto-kun's fight...if a fight is even what you can call it"

Kakashi eye-smiled " I was pretty awesome huh? "

Instantly the room went deathly silent and 'Kakashi' felt as if Haku had sprung from the dead and used his...her...whatever! Hyouton jutsus on him.

"Eh hehe, I mean, well...KAKASHI DEFINATELY ISN'T OUT WITH ERO-SENNIN AND THEY DEFINATELY AREN'T OUT PEEPING ON THE WOMEN'S ONSEN!"

xxxxxx

Kakashi and Jiraiya sneezed at the same time and their eyes instantly widened in shock and horror at the sudden uproar of angry females from within the onsen

'Sorry kid but...' With a deft kick, Jiraiya launched Kakashi into the wall causing a hole to be formed before yelling out in a high-pitched voice

"Oh my god! It's that Hatake guy! That pervert was peeking on us!" and with that the Sannin vanished leaving a hapless white-haired jounin to the merciless fists of more than a dozen women.

Kakashi blinked as he looked up and, though he might've been overjoyed at the sight that was before him on any other day, paled in fright at the angry glares from the women standing above him.

"Uh...it's not what you think?"

xxxxxx

"Naruto, why are you here while Kakashi is not?" Hiruzen asked in what seemed to be a calm tone of voice

'Maybe he's not so angry after all?' Naruto thought, having dispelled his henge.

"Well you see, I knew you were going to ask about me, Asshole and Sakura-Chan so I volunteered to be the one to tell you. Kakashi-sensei didn't really know much about our skills besides the obvious."

Sarutobi nodded as if in agreement. "I see, and why did your sensei know so little about you? His students?"

Naruto, not realizing the dark waters he was suddenly treading, continued on cheerfully

"Well, Sensei would always show up late and when he got there and saw us training, he would say something like 'Keep up the good work' or 'We got another D-rank, Naruto make some Kage-Bunshin to go do them while you guys keep training' and other stuff like that. Then he would leave, he said he would be at his apartment if we needed him."

Hiruzen clenched his fists under the table. Hatake was going to pay, there was no doubt in the Sandaime's mind about that fact.

"Well Naruto-kun, I understand that with your Sensei being admitted to the hospital, you and your teammates will be needing temporary replacements to train the three of you for the finals. I have already spoken to Jiraiya and he has...agreed, to give you all the training you'll need. As for Sakura and Sasuke, I believe I know the two perfect jounin for them."

Naruto's eyes lit up and he pumped a fist into the air, ready to give a shout, when he paused "Wait, Sensei's in the hospital? What happened?"

"Oh, nothing yet, but soon...so very soon. Excuse me Naruto-kun"

With that, Naruto watched as the old man exited the room through the open window. Naruto scratched his head in confusion before shrugging and leaving through the same window.

It wouldn't be until the finals that Hiruzen would remember that he never got an explanation for Naruto's fight.


	2. Name calling

" Oi! Bastard! What gives you the right to look down on me? You're such an asshole to everyone, and none of them deserve it! Who do you think you are! "

Uchiha Sasuke, ten-year old academy student of the Konoha Ninja Corp Program, stopped in his tracks at the loud voice that belonged to none-other than Uzumaki Naruto.

The "Last of the Uchiha" stood there for a second as the two questions, that had followed the rather random insult, rolled around his mind. Ever so slowly the Uchiha turned around and faced the blonde "fool", as Sasuke had mentally dubbed him since first year, and replied.

" Who do you think you're talking to? Dead-last. I don't care for anyone here because no one here is worth it! With the two exceptions of Aburame-san and Inuzuka-san, this entire class is pathetic! The civilian side is nothing to even talk about so I'm going to spare them the humiliation, but the shinobi-born side? So many clan heirs, and so many disappointments."

The surrounding crowd, mostly fan-girls who were screaming for 'Sasuke-kun' to 'beat down' Naruto-as well as the others in the crowd who simply wanted to see a fight, had all gone deathly quiet at the Uchiha's words, but the boy neither cared or planned on stopping. Sasuke had had enough.

" Nara Shikamaru, born to a clan that is hailed as being the smartest and most strategic-minded around, is just a lazy good-for-nothing that would rather sleep than pay attention in class. "

Said Nara boy simply yawned and continued looking on in a bored manner.

" Not only that, but in doing so, he brings down his 'friend' Choji who would rather skip class with Nara-san or stuff his face rather than train or better himself as a future shinobi "

The Akimichi, who had been munching on some chips, slowly lowered the bag in his hand as he nervously looked around at the eyes that were momentarily focused on him. Shikamaru was now frowning towards Sasuke, though he stood up straighter next to his friend.

" Hyuuga Hinata, the heiress to the 'most prestigious clan in Konoha', can't even stand up for herself. She should be the top kunoichi, maybe even tied with me in the class rankings, simply because of her clan's teachings. Where is she though? Wasting space somewhere in the middle. I heard a rumor that her little sister can beat her in a spar every single time, if that doesn't lose her the heiress position, I'm sure her infatuation with you will more than likely do it "

Naruto, who by now was fuming over the slights aimed at Shikamaru and Chouji- they were Naruto's running mates in skipping class after all, paused and blinked in confusion 'What does infatuation mean?' He looked over at Hinata who was altering from depression to embarassment and every so often she would look in Naruto's direction while blushing. Seeing her crush now looking back at her was too much and the Hyuuga instantly fainted.

Sasuke sneered at the girl before turning back to Naruto " Yamanaka Ino, just as pathetic as Haruno Sakura. " Despite Naruto's sudden outburst at hearing Sasuke now insulting his crush, Sasuke spoke louder and continued " Neither of them care one bit about their shinobi training. Wasting their time with make-up and diets, acting as if they're in some sort of fairy tale and trying to make me out to be their knight in shining armor " Sasuke spat on the ground to show his distaste " They'll be lucky if they die the first time they run into an enemy out in the field, everyone knows that a weak kunoichi means a raped kunoichi on the battlefied. "

Sasuke, seeing the wide-eyed looks on the two girls as well as many of the other would-be kunoichi, smirked " I bet that never even crossed their minds. "

" Then, there's you Naruto. You want to know what I do in the morning while you're sleeping in? I wake up two hours early every morning and train for the first hour while studying for the second. I then come here to the academy, on time, and wait for class to begin. Where are you? Sleeping? Pulling a prank? "

Naruto glared at the Uchiha, not yet understanding what Sasuke was trying to say, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the Uchiha.

" You know what I do in class? I listen, I pay attention to Umino-Sensei and Toujou-Sensei while they teach. I take notes. I do the assigned work. Where are you? Skipping class? Acting like a clown to get attention? Sleeping? Crying about how unfair it is that you're the dead-last when you don't even put in the work to be better! "

Naruto's eyes widened as the last cut-down penetrated his mind. What had he been doing? Why did he goof off in class, or just skip it entirely even though he wanted to become a shinobi, he still couldn't even do that damn bunshin no...

" What do you do after the academy Naruto? More pranks? More goofing off? Eating maybe? Do I even have to tell you what I'm doing as soon as I get home? "

Naruto shook his head absentmindedly, he wasn't too thick to not realize that Sasuke was implying that he was training once he got home.

" You ask me what gives me the right to look down on you? You're nothing better than a civilian with a few tricks and a stupid clown-suit. Why don't I associate with anyone in this class? I'm an Uchiha, the last time an Uchiha mingled with a commoner was when the Uchiha Police were around. That's not me, I'm going to be a shinobi. I'm going to be strong. I'm going to avenge my clan and I'm not going to letanyoneslow me down, especially not some Hokage-wannabe dead-last that doesn't even know how to dress himself. Why don't you do everyone here a favor and just go home. Maybe you can go get a job at that ramen shack you love so much, because you'll never, never, make it as a shinobi "

With one last look of disgust, the Uchiha heir turned around and walked back towards the academy leaving a very silent crowd in his wake.

.

just something that popped in my head last night

I was going to put in a line where Sasuke questions Naruto on why the blonde calls him a "bastard" and then states "...at least I knew my parents, I grew up with them, I knew their love. What about you? You're an orphan, you never even got adopted growing up. No one wants you, just like your parents must not have wanted you"

or something along those lines, but I never got a good place to put it in so I decided to just leave it out. It would've highlighted how cruel Sasuke could be, but meh.

*edit 2* btw, this is kinda pointed at all those who bash Sasuke/Sakura/Kakashi/whoever in their fics. Not implying that any of the regulars here do it, just saying. There are so many ways in which an author can make his or her displeasure with a certain character made known other than: Sasuke rants and raves about wanting more power, demanding superNaruto to teach him all his techniques, having Sakura always scream like a "banshee" while being an over-the-top fangirl, Kakashi bluntly favoring Sasuke over Naruto and Sakura, etc etc.


	3. A crossover

Harry Potter is getting sick and tired of everyone not being brave enough to say the name "Voldemort" and everyone stops him before he can say it more than twice

finally a young pretty girl from Slytherin confronts him in the Great Hall in front of everyone about it

"Potter! No one cares how bad your childhood was or how ignorant you are! What we do care about is that you have been warned countless times not to say the Dark Lord's name!" The pretty-faced girl spat

'pretty-faced or pug-faced? I think someone lied to me' Harry thought at first

"Listen Panties, I don't care how scared you guys are, I'm not going to stop calling the Dork Lord by his made up name...Voldemort!" Harry responded causing all of the Hufflepuffs to faint on the spot and a few Ravenclaws to throw up. The Slytherins hissed and the Gryffindor's looked ready to charge into battle behind their 'Golden Boy'

"The name is Pansy! Not Panties! and you need to stop right now before you get us all in trouble! You don't know what You-Know-Who is capable of!" The girl shrieked

Harry quirked a brow "Who?"

"You-Know-Who!"

"No, I don't. Who are you talking about?"

"Potter stop toying with me!"

"Ooooh! You mean Voldemort!"

"POTTER!" Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling so brightly that the Ravenclaws that had turned away from Harry were instantly blinded and the Gryffindors who were caught in the crossfire were left disorientated. The Slytherins had started to duck underneath their table, as for the rest of the staff...well they just kinda sat there uselessly.

"Don't say his name again Potter, I swear if you do...I'll hex you!"

"Oooooo, so scary Panties...Voldemort!"

Harry was about to laugh at the pale-faced girl...who was somehow still pretty...when the lights in the Great Hall flickered and the room went dark.

An organ could now be heard playing a fast-paced tune and the sound of mad laughter echoed off the walls

Harry could only watch in awe and terror as the very ground began to shake and split apart. Green eerie light glowed from the cracks and Harry could briefly make out a shadow that was racing through them, as if it was flying underneath the floor.

All at once, right in front of Dumbledore's table, the floor was shoved upwards and Voldemort seems to rise up out of the debris a large maniacal grin on his paler-than-usual face

Harry also noticed something else that was different about the killer-of-his-parents, Voldemort was wearing a black and white pin-striped outfit.

Another thing he noticed was that Voldemort had hair...yellow, dry, dead, hair...but hair nonetheless.

Voldemort continued rising and Harry noticed that he seemed to be standing on top of some sort of demented carousel that had the same black and white color scheme as the Dark Lord's clothes.

Finally as the Voldemort neared the ceiling of the Great Hall he let out a bark of laughter and grinned down at the Hogwart's population and said only one thing

"It's showtime!" 


	4. Devil's Magical Reject

When Harry turned four years old he found himself packing up and moving with his relatives, the Dursleys.

Vernon Dursley, an employee at Grunnings, has been granted a promotion but it requires him to move to an overseas branch of the company.

At first he is appalled at the thought of moving to America, of all countries, but when Petunia reminds him of their nephew's origins and the chance that they wont come looking for him so far from Britain, Vernon's choice is easily made.

If only Petunia wasn't so jealous of her sister Lily. If only Vernon didn't share her hate for freakishness. If only they weren't so against Harry becoming more of a freak like the rest of his kind. Maybe if things were different, they would never have encountered the horror that awaited them.

Vernon would find himself becoming increasingly angry at how much driving he had to do just to get to his new job-site. The Dursley family, plus Harry, were now in Texas, USA.

The British family soon finds themselves driving through a small town in Ruggsville county. Deciding that he's had enough whining from his wife and his son, no nevermind to his freak nephew who just sits there looking out the window not saying a word...'freak'. Vernon stops at a small store and decides to ask for directions.

A few moments later and the visibly upset and disturbed Dursleys quickly leave the store and scramble into their car and leave as fast as they can

"From now on, 'clowns' are a bad word just like the 'M' word!" The large man roared, his thin wife nodding her head frantically in agreement. Dudley was laughing at what he perceived to be a joke and Harry...simply stared out the window.

A few miles down the road found the Brits standing on the side of the road as Vernon put all his years of vehicle knowledge, which was next-to-none, to use as he tried to figure out what, in God's name, the thing was that was clamped around the back right tire.

"It's a bear-trap Uncle Vernon" "How would you know that boy!" "The Discovery channel Uncle Vernon." "You giving me lip boy!" "No Unc..."

Whatever Harry was going to say next was cut off by a beefy-hand catching him across the face and sending him sprawling to the ground.

"No see here! I will not have any of your cheek you little freak!"

The sound of a gun cocking and a devious giggle were the next sounds to be heard before a voice spoke

"How bout my cheek then, fat boy? Now turn around...SLOWLY! I might just get a little trigger-happy and blow off a few of those pounds, jeez like a ** whale on two legs"

A pale Vernon turned around slowly, his hands in the air, and he looked at (what he believed to be) the robbers but felt his bladder loosen slightly at what he did see.

A thin man with silvery-hair string-thin hair that hung down just below his shoulders, a thick unkempt goatee that was mostly gray-white with a few blotches of brown. The man wore ragged pants and a shirt that had a picture of the American flag on it and the words "Burn this Flag" just above it

The man was pointing a revolver at Vernon and, even as indignant as Vernon Dursley could be at any subject, the Brit could easily read the man's expression as "I dare you to try something"

The worst part, to the family man, was that his wife was currently being held captive by a young blonde woman who was grinning madly as she whispered into Petunia's ear causing Vernon's wife to choke back a sob every so often.

Dudley was eating the sandwich that the third man, that his father had yet to see, had given him.

Harry was simply standing there, having picked himself off the ground. He had no idea what to make of the situation he was in, and he wouldn't be given the time to think over, he was suddenly spun around in place and then lifted off the ground into a bone-crushing hug which was followed by a girlish squeal of delight

"OH! He's such a little darling isn't he? To think these poor folks had such a diamond amongst them and didn't even know it! Don't you worry child, Mama Firefly is going to take good care of you from now on!" The exuberant woman declared as she held Harry as if he was a baby.

The woman turned towards the others

"Well? What are you waiting for? Otis, Rufus, get those two to the house. I think they want to stay for dinner! Don't you? Baby, bring the little balloon, he might be salvageable if we can get him down to size. If not...well, I'm sure Tiny would love to have a little friend!"

Neither Vernon nor Petunia were able to say or do anything when their world went dark.

In the coming days, they would both wish they had never left Britain.

They would wish that they could see their son and know he was safe.

They would wish that their son would stay away from them and go die, once the boy had started to learn the Firefly family's more interesting hobbies and had begun practicing them.

They would wish that their freak nephew, who was definitely the cause of all this, had never appeared on their doorstep that night so many years ago.

They would wish their nephew would have mercy on them and forgive them as they soon learned that the young Potter was infinitely more adept at "playing" than Dudley.

They would wish for freedom, and then they would wish for death. They would wish for it to all just end, and two months later, they would get their wish.

Vernon and Petunia were gone, never to return. That was okay, their story was over. Harry's and Dudley's however, was just starting. 


	5. Story Time

Naruto had a secret hobby. Reading

It would be very surprising to any who learned this fact, though at the same time it wouldn't be.

You see, Naruto didn't like to read non-fictional books, he liked to read adventure novels, crime stories, fantasy comics, he even read a few Icha Icha books every now and then.

This hobby eventually gave way to Naruto wanting to become a shinobi, to him, it was as if he was in one of his books living his own adventure.

After becoming a genin, Naruto fought tooth and nail to prove that he was ready for the bigger missions. Even if it was just a mission to wipe-out a bandit-camp, he wanted to do it.

The time finally came when Team 10, consisting of himself, Haruno Sakura, and Inuzuka Kiba (under Sarutobi Asuma), were given the necessary mission of losing their "innocence". In this case, making their first kill.

The camp was easily found, the plan laid out, and the three genin spread out accordingly while their sensei watched from above in the trees.

As Naruto stalked closer he began to play out a scenario in his mind that he created from all the stories he had read.

He made himself out to be some type of jungle predator. He and his three tribe-mates were out to kill the intruders of their land. He didn't notice how his facial features had changed to match his mental-image. A dangerous gleam in his eye, a predatory-smirk on his lips, and his canines elongated.

At the nearly-unheard signal, the blonde exploded from the bushes with a primal roar and easily struck down three bandits in quick succession.

Sakura had used a genjutsu that Asuma had taught her and was able to run unnoticed by the gathering bandits on the other side of the camp while throwing down explosive tags, she was clear of the blast range when the tags went off engulfing the bandits in less than a second.

Kiba and Akamaru had become a literal tornado that had surged through another part of the camp. Once a gray and white twisting funnel had turned blood red and brown before the Inuzuka and his partner came to a stop, still dripping with blood and looking a bit green.

Naruto had since called up a half dozen clones that assisted in ending the lives of the rest of the bandits.

When Asuma landed quietly amongst the human-debris, he simply smirked and with a nod of his head, he gestured for his students to follow which they did without a word.

The night was ours. The land purified with the blood of the interlopers. The woman at my side was a beauty to behold when she called upon the might of the flame to devour the uncouth fools. The man-beast to my left and his companion were one with the wind as they unleashed a gale of furious destruction on all those who dared to stand in nature's way. I...my hands had flowed through each intruder's neck and chest as easily as a fish moves through water.

Our leader looked upon us with pride and approval shining in his eyes. No words were spoken but they were as unneeded as his help this night. I walked tall, my head held high, allowing my hand to brush against the cherry-haired woman to my right every so often. She was obviously suited to be my mate but I would have to tread carefully, after all, "hell hath no fury"

**While at first Naruto starts off just narrating his own little adventures in his mind as he goes about his missions, he doesn't realize that he is slowly starting to lose his grip on reailty.**

**As his stories began to change and as they begin to become darker, Naruto finds himself changing as well to suit his stories.**

**He begins to become deranged, delusional. He starts to view his "world" as reality. Whenever he feels as if someone is a threat to him in anyway, his mind drafts it to his "world" and twists it so that the person is a threat. A threat that needs to be taken care of.**

**The only three people that he trusts are his team.**

**Kiba is the first to fall into Naruto's world and decide not to return. Naruto, while out of his mind, is clearly stronger and more dominating than Kiba and so the Inuzuka reveres him as an Alpha. (no. not sexually)**

**Sakura falls later, though it's actually easier when she does, her "inner-Sakura" being the one to take over the body and since the inner-mentality had been trying to convince Sakura to become romantically-linked with her blonde teammate only to be rebuffed in favor of "Sasuke-kun", it wasn't long before the two became involved.**


	6. TimeTravel concept

It's the final battle. Naruto vs Madara. Many on both sides have fallen...though in the case of Kabuto's army, they've fallen again.

Naruto is trying his level best to keep up with the ancient Uchiha but the fight he had with Sasuke previously had left him mentally and physically battered.

Madara was able to suddenly get the upper-hand and engulfed Naruto in a multi-layered genjutsu which left the blonde immobile and defenseless

After that the Uchiha went to work in extracting the fox. He had already gotten the eight-tails and now all he needed was the Kyuubi.

He had just begun when Naruto's seal flared to life and two forms appeared before the crazed madman.

Madara couldn't believe his eyes at seeing Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato.

A bunch of flashy stuff later and some epic dialogue and Naruto was sent hurtling through time, far away from this desolate wasteland once known as the Elemental Nations, as he hurtled forth the Kyuubi was shred to pieces and seemed to vanish bit by bit, leaving only trace amounts in his body.

In another time and place, high in the sky, a tear appeared out of thin air and Naruto came rocketing out of it. Falling to the ground like a meteor from space

His flight was abruptly ended when he plowed into something large and furry, the earth-shaking roar that he heard was more than enough to tell him he had hit some large beast. However, he was unable to think on it any more as he fell to the ground and slipped into unconciousness

The Kyuubi was having the worst two weeks of it's life, and it knew that it started with those pathetic monkeys it had eaten. Now it was undergoing the most intense pain it had ever felt in it's life and began to hack up it's stomach contents, it's demonic chakra flowing out over the ground below...much of it seeping into a certain sleeping blonde

Once the Fox had finally expelled the two monkeys it leapt forward, easily covering many miles and kept going. 'perhaps things will be quieter in the South near Fire Country'

* * *

><p>The following morning Naruto awoke and, looking up, realized that there were two people staring down at him, each grinning widely. 'or I have double vision...cuz they look the same...are those whisker-marks on their cheeks?'<p>

"Wha...?"

"Kinkaku, it looks like we've found ourselves a brother!"

"Yes Ginkaku, he has as much of the fox's chakra in him as we do...maybe more!"

Naruto blinked before passing out once again, not knowing that his life just got a little extreme.


	7. A Different Childhood

"Wha...what did you just say?"

The question wasn't as unexpected as the sudden lapse back into rationality. Uzumaki Naruto stared across the battlefield, said battlefield being the surface of the river which the two combatants stood upon thanks to their manipulation of chakra, and nodded his head firmly.

"You heard me, I want to help you...so kill me."

Uchiha Sasuke still couldn't believe the words coming from the blonde's mouth. He had of somewhat expected a battle that, due to those involved, might have led to the death of either shinobi. What he did not expect was for his brother in-all-but blood to simply resign himself to death like this, and not because he was giving up, so the young Uchiha's Sharingan could advance to a higher level, all in the hopes that he would finally be able to kill his older brother.

The murderer of the Uchiha clan, Konoha's youngest ANBU captain, "a prodigy, the likes not seen since the Yondaime Hokage", Uchiha Itachi.

Sasuke shook his head and glared into the calm eyes of his soon-to-be-ex-teammate.

"Idiot! Even after all this time you can't simply go out with some honor! You think you're better than me! You think I need you to just lay down and die! You think I want to obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan like my brother did? By killing the helpless! Who do you take me for!" The Uchiha screamed, his eyes growing moist despite the rage that was threatening to take him over once more. The Heaven Seal glowed ominously on the dark-haired teen's neck and familiar black marks began to spread across Sasuke's skin again.

Naruto shook his head with a smile "I know who you are Sasuke, I know you're stronger than me, that you're better than me, better than Itachi. You have a dream to fulfill...your 'goal' remember? Of course you do, it's all you ever think about. What do I have, Sasuke? We both know the truth, everything that Konoha has kept hidden from me...yet I can't just turn my back on the village like you can. I'd die protecting it...but family comes first. Right? That's one of the first things you taught me. 'Family before all else'."

The blonde winced a bit as the Kyuubi's chakra seaped out along his body and focused on the wounds he had gained over the course of the battle that had been had by the two "brothers".

He looked over Sasuke's form and saw that the Uchiha seemed to be on his last leg, far from Naruto's soon-to-be pristine physical appearance. As he thought of what to do next his mind soon strayed away and led him to first memories, of his adoption, of his new family.

* * *

><p>(Flashback. Naruto is age 4)<p>

_The orphanage had never been a happy place for the young blonde. Naruto had learned very early on that nearly all the adults he ever came in contact seemed to ignore him. The majority of the villagers would pretend that he wasn't there, others however would give Naruto such an ugly look that it truly scared the young boy. He wouldn't learn to much later on that the look had a name; hatred._

_Naruto, like any other child his age that was the victim of negative mental stimuli, found himself reacting in the only way that made sense...namely by pranking any and everyone that he even thought looked at him wrong. Sometimes he would feel a bit guilty whenever an innocent by-stander would get caught up in his pranks and the guilt would stay with him for a very long time until he met Sabaku no Gaara. It was after that meeting that Naruto realized that pranking was probably the kindest way he could've lashed out and the villagers should've actually thanked him._

_On this day Naruto had once again found himself secluded on the third floor, locked inside a room by himself. It was 'Adoption Day', the day of the week where adults would come and pick out a child to take home with them. Naruto had been just as eager as any of the other children to be lucky enough to be adopted but those hopes were dashed very fast and very soon by the matron of the orphanage._

_'Who could ever want a thing like you?' The matron had said in such a calm and confident voice. She could've been comparing his being adopted to a scorpion being chosen over a dog as a pet._

_So, from then on, Naruto would be locked up into the last room on the third floor. To make sure he 'didn't cause trouble' and to keep him out of sight is what he was told and had gleaned off the other children who had heard the matron talking about it with one of the staff. While some of the other orphans didn't like Naruto, many of them were quite afraid of his pranks and would rather stay on his good side than end up as a victim once again._

_The young blonde had realized the day wasn't normal when a loud commotion could be heard from down the hall only ten minutes after "Adoption Day" officially began. He could hear the matron's familiar footsteps haltingly moving towards his current room and he could just barely make out the footsteps of two others...no three! _

_"Are they tip-toeing? I can barely hear them" He questioned aloud._

_"They are not Uzumaki-kun.' Naruto's head snapped towards the window and his eyes widened at the sight of an older boy simply leaning against the still-closed window as if it was perfectly natural. 'They are current or former shinobi, to walk silently is a habit which all shinobi are proficient at. The fact that you are still able to hear them however...is truly interesting."_

_Naruto gulped. "Who are you? How did you get in here?' As Naruto began to ask questions his initial fear quickly melted away and his excitement rose. 'Did you use ninja-magic to walk through the window? Or maybe you teleported in here! I've seen those white-face guys do that sometimes! They'll all be there and then they're gone! Whoa! Can you teach me? Huh! Can you can you can you can you?" He pleaded, by now having moved off the bed and was practically on his knees with his hands clasped in front of him._

_Before the visibly taken-back teen could say a word the door opened wide revealing an older man and woman, both with dark hair and eyes like the teen by the window, there was also a much older man who had gray hair but the same dark eyes as the others. Behind the three was the matron who was looking worriedly between the small group and Naruto. _

_"Itachi-kun, I see you have found our family's newest addition" The dark-haired woman spoke, a small smile on her face as she looked down at the young boy before her._

_The man at her side sniffed disdainfully as he looked around the room "At least he had a proper room, I had been hearing rumors but hadn't had the time to investigate..." _

_Naruto blinked at the statement and, much like any child who did not know the meaning of tact, simply blurted out "This isn't my room mister quiet-feet, I don't really have one unless you count the attic but I'd rather just stay outside at night than up there, it's too cramped!"_

_The matron paled rapidly as, even as a civilian, she felt the room become decidedly colder. _

_"Naruto-kun' The still-smiling woman spoke as she lowered herself to her knees and began gesturing to herself and the others with her ' My name is Uchiha Mikoto, this is my husband Uchiha Fugaku he's the head of the Uchiha Police Force within the village as well as the Head of the Uchiha Clan. To my right is Uchiha Kuno, he is one of the clan's elders as well as Fugaku's father. You have already met my oldest son Itachi. We are here to adopt you, would you like to come downstairs with me to see the paperwork that is going to give you a family?" Throughout the introduction the woman's smile never wavered but Naruto couldn't help the frown that crossed his features._

_The young blonde suddenly moved forward and tapped Mikoto on the nose, completely oblivious to the way Fugaku had positioned his arm to easily be swung in order to cave-in the boy's head if the clan head deemed it necessary. Nor did he notice the older Uchiha subtly reach into the sleeve of his haori and grasp the hidden kunai he kept there. Itachi noticed these things but he had not moved an inch._

_Mikoto blinked in surprise at the young boy who had taken two steps back with a cheeky grin on his face and couldn't help but ask such a familiar question _

_"What did you do that for?"_

_Naruto reached his hand up behind him and rubbed the back of his head "Ah, well, when you were talking it looked like you were trying not to make an ugly face, so I tapped you on the nose!" He finished as if his words were perfectly logical._

_'Kushina used to do that same thing, though her words were slightly more...profane' Mikoto stifled a giggle and slowly stood, holding a hand out to the young boy._

_"You take after your mother quite a bit Naruto-kun' At the look of absolute shock, Mikoto quickly added ' Yes, I knew your mother. If you come with me, I will be more than happy to tell you all about her"_

_That was all Naruto needed to hear as he took Mikoto's hand and all but dragged her out of the room, leaving a very pale matron alone with three highly dangerous shinobi. Fugaku sighed as closed the door._

_"My son, I want you to think of this as a training exercise. There are ways of making a civilian talk without leaving a physical mark, allow me to demonstrate..."_

* * *

><p><em>It was several hours later that Naruto found himself walking in a subdued manner through the street of the Uchiha Compound between his new parents Mikoto and Fugaku. The elder, Kuno, had taken his leave of the group almost as soon as they entered the compound and Itachi had left after the departed the orphanage. <em>

_Of course, none of this was what was on Naruto's mind, no, what he was thinking about was all the new-found knowledge on his mother; Uzumaki Kushina. Mikoto had first described his mother to him then had quickly moved on to the numerous "adventures" the to women had had together._

_Naruto blinked away his thoughts when he found himself suddenly inside a well-furnished home, he was also suddenly aware of a young boy about his own age staring back at him blankly. _

_"Sasuke-kun, this is Naruto-kun. Your new brother. Naruto, this is Sasuke, my youngest son." Mikoto stood back and watched next to her husband as the two boys seemed to suddenly hit off after the short introduction. The Uchiha matriarch smiled at the sight, she knew that just like her and Kushina, their sons would grow up to be the best of friends and that they would always be there for each other._

_'Yes, this family is now complete and I can begin to repay my debt to Kushina for allowing her only son to live as he did for this long. Nothing can break us apart now, this family will only become stronger, I can feel it.' The woman's thoughts continued on as she watched the two boys who were now trying to see who had the better headlock technique and had fallen to the floor and were rolling around despite Fugaku moving forward and telling them to stop...which they ignored._

_Mikoto smile widened and she didn't bother to stop herself from giggling, which turned to full blown laughter when Fugaku turned to her in indignation, neither adult nor the boys noticed Itachi looking on from the doorway before turning towards his room and walking away._

* * *

><p><strong>I kinda rushed through this towards the end and I know the detail is lacking in many part. The basic plot is that Mikoto had stumbled across Naruto in the village and upon learning his name instantly knew whose son he was. Remembering her deceased friend and the thoughts they used to have about their children growing up as friends all comes crashing back. She instantly goes to her husband and convinces him to adopt the boy. <strong>

**Now, the reasons that they were allowed to adopt Naruto. The council hasn't been shown to be against Naruto in canon, so they wont be all gung-ho about screwing him over at every turn. Let us all just assume that everyone single person on the council knows Naruto's heritage, while they might not want to take in the boy themselves they aren't going to stop anyone else from doing so unless it would be detrimental to Naruto's growth. Contrariwise, while they aren't against Naruto, they aren't going to stop others from doing what they secretly might want to do themselves, i.e. make his life a mental hell.**

**Hiruzen agrees to the request for adoption because of the rising tension in the Uchiha clan, perhaps by showing such a degree of trust and faith in the clan by allowing them to adopt the jinchuuriki, perhaps the bigger-picture might be affected for the better.**

**Did I leave anything out?  
><strong>


	8. The 5 Rings

**Something that just came to me a while ago and I decided to share. This is a real short one and I suppose you could see it more as a challenge or a foundation to launch a fic. **

**As for my actual fic which I haven't even touched since the last chapter I updated...I apologize. Every time I got to update it, I just blank out. It's not abandoned, I assure you that, I am just in between the decisions of "Start it over with some new ideas I had" or "what to do next and how to do it right"  
><strong>

If you were to ask Uzumaki Naruto; the Suna kunoichi, Temari; the former companion of Momochi Zabuza, Haku; the Tsuchikage's grand-daughter, Kurotsuchi; or the Kumo shinobi, Omoi when exactly their lives changed, they would all tell you that it started on the day they each found _that_ ring.

No one is quite sure when it was that Uzumaki Naruto, who has an affinity for Wind jutsu, suddenly seemed to have a high affinity for Water jutsu. Nor could they figure out how it was they he could form water techniques without hand-signs or even a verbal command.

No one in Suna was able to figure out how it was that Temari, one of the last battle-fan users, had suddenly come into such powerful fire techniques.

The same could be said about Haku who suddenly was capable of Wind techniques that she had not been previously known for.

It wasn't too surprising to see Kurotsuchi being capable of Earth techniques, but the ones she had taken to using had never been seen before in Iwa.

Omoi...well everyone already use to think he was strange, but if his wild paranoia and controversial theories had set him apart before. The fact that he suddenly was on friendly-speaking terms with so many different summons, not to mention the wild animals that seemed to follow him everywhere, surely raised many an eyebrow.

The final straw, for the Elemental Nations, was during a Chunin Exam in Konoha. The Ichibi was loose just outside of Konoha. There were two, three-headed, snake summons tearing down the village walls. Orochimaru of the Sannin was currently on the verge of killing the Sandaime Hokage. Then..._IT_ happened.

What appeared to be five streams of color shoot upwards into the sky, all heading towards each other. Orange, Blue, Green, Brown and Red. The five streams collided in the air and an orb of chaotic bright white formed.

After an explosion of color cascaded over the village, a voice was heard.

"**By your Powers combined, I...am Captain Planet**!"


	9. Feng Shui

**Figured, since I posted that idea yesterday, I'd post this one as well. Came to me sometime last night, thought about it all today and here it is! **

To say the tension was thick would be an understatement. Six figures sat in what could be loosely termed a 'circle' within the sitting room of the bridge-builder's, Tazuna, home. Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Namikaze Namida, Haku, Tazuna, and Inari were those who were comfortable sitting down. Hatake Kakashi and Momochi Zabuza on the other hand; stood on opposite ends of the room. The two jounin were leaning against the wall behind them; Zabuza with his arms crossed, Kubikiri Hocho at his side. Kakashi appeared totally at ease, his nose buried in a little orange book, every now and then a giggle would escape from beneath his face mask. Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, was busying herself in the kitchen. The housewife wasn't actually intending on making anything to eat but had desperately needed a distraction from the tense atmosphere that permeated the room only five yards away from her.

"So~" Namida suddenly spoke, grinning widely as each set of eyes fixed their gazes on her. The young red-headed daughter of the Yondaime had never been one to be intimidated, at least not by anyone other than _that_ guy. He wasn't here though so she had absolutely no worries! "Haku-chan! I _knew_ you were a girl! Why'd you try to say you weren't?"

The female in question, whom had decided that her fake hunter-nin mask was no longer need and as such wasn't wearing it, eyed her fellow kunoichi before quietly answering. "Namida-san, I've never been to Konoha before so I don't know what you've been taught in the academy but, for someone like me; a female bloodline-user with no solid ties to any village, I had to be careful with whoever I was dealing with at any given time. Even after Zabuza-Sama took me under his guidance, I had to be wary of those who would only see me as breeding stock or simply as a "quick lay".

Namida sighed sadly at that. "I should've thought of that myself. I apologize. The academy didn't really cover that type of material as much as my mother thinks it should but she and another person warned me of all the dangers that comes with being a kunoichi. I can only imagine what would've happened if a Kumo-nin had ever come across you and saw you using your blood-limit."

Haku nodded, pleased that Namida wasn't as naive as Haku had first thought. Their meeting in the forest, which neither had gone into detail about with their respective teammates, had led Haku to believe that the young red-head hadn't had her eyes opened to the darker side of the shinobi world. The Hyoton-user was more than relieved to learn that she had been wrong and she was doubly impressed that a girl three years her junior had managed to trick her so easily.

The sudden noise of flapping wings ended the conversation as all eyes turned to Kakashi, who had been standing next to the room's only window, and the messenger-hawk that was no perched on his arm. The gray-haired jounin removed the small scroll from the bird's back and then shook his arm to dislodge the avian messenger. After a couple of seconds of reading the message, Kakashi looked up with an eye-smile.

"Hokage-Sama has agreed to grant you safe passage into Konoha so that he may hear your case. If all goes well, which he is positive it shall, then this time next week Konoha will have two new members to it's ranks."

Namida quickly jumped to her feet and let out a whoop. "Alright! Hear that Haku-chan? No-Brows-san? You're coming home with us!"

Zabuza's hand slowly inched towards the hilt of his sword as his left eyebrow twitched. "What did I tell you about calling me that, runt!"

The redhead paid the Demon of the Mist no mind as she engulfed Haku in a hug and then began ushering her towards the door, all the while calling out to her teammates to hurry up for their departure.

Sasuke shook his head, a smirk on his face. "No one but Namida." Sakura, who was smiling cheerfully, nodded in agreement.

* * *

><p><strong>(Several days later, outside the gates of Konoha)<strong>

Team 7, plus Zabuza and Haku, were only a dozen or so yard from the gates when they were suddenly surrounded by a squad of ANBU. Each black-ops member had their ninja-to out and pointed towards the group; specifically, Zabuza and Haku.

"Halt! Momochi Zabuza; kunoichi by the name of Haku, the two of you are to surrender yourselves into our custody. You shall be detained until otherwise ordered!"

Namida quickly stepped forward before Kakashi could and shouted at the ANBU. "Hey, what's the big idea? My father said Haku-chan and Zabuza had safe passage into the village! You can't just arrest them or whatever!"

The lead ANBU shook his head. "You are mistaken Namikaze-Sama, these two are known criminals and fugitives. Our orders are as previously stated. Please step back with your team while we detain these two."

"And if I don't!" The ANBU didn't hesitate before responding to this.

"Then you will be arrested as well for obstructing justice."

Namida's eyes widened fearfully, even as Kakashi moved himself between his student and the ANBU. He had been suspicious even before the team had arrived, having sensed them circling around the group before appearing, and he had also noticed something about the words used as well. Before he could say anything, however, a new voice spoke up.

"Yare, yare. Correct me if I'm wrong, but did I hear someone threatin' my cute, little, Imouto-chan around here?"

All eyes landed on the new arrival and Kakashi's eyes widened at who it was. Casually moving towards them at a leisurely pace, walked another ANBU. The difference between this new arrival and the ones wanting to arrest Zabuza and Haku were instantly apparent. The mask wasn't like the others; it had two horn-like protrusions on the top, the eye-holes were slitted instead of wide circles like the others. After a good look, it was easy to see that the mask was designed to look like a fox, or a jackal. The protrusions at the top were supposed to be ears. The mask and the voice were all that could be used to identify the ANBU seeing as he was wearing a white robe that covered him from head to toe. The silver-lining around the hood was what told Kakashi and, surprisingly, Sasuke that this person was not just any ANBU, he was _the_ ANBU Commander.

The group of ANBU all sheathed their blades and bowed towards the approaching commander, the lead ANBU quickly moving forward and dropping to a knee.

"Sir! I wasn't aware you were in the vicinity. We were just..." The man cut himself off when the commander stepped past him. Despite this the ANBU remained where he was.

"Hm~ 'detainment' you say? But...whoever gave such an order? I may have done such a thing but I am quite sure that I haven't been drinking today, so there goes that idea. Tell me...' The commander pointed at one of the ANBU to his front-right. 'Boar, who gave this order?"

The lead ANBU quickly spun around and appeared as if he was going to answer instead when he jerked to a stop. Those watching, could only do so in absolute shock as the commander seemingly appeared directly in front of the lead ANBU. The other reason for their shock was the blade, the lead ANBU's blade that is, was currently sticking out the back of the now dead black-ops operative.

The commander pulled the blade out and turned back towards the group, not even sparing the former ANBU a glance as the man slumped to his knees before keeling over to the side; dead.

"Ah! Sumimasen Minna-san! If there are two things that I can't stand, it's being interrupted and traitors. Not necessarily in that order!' The cheerful man declared. 'You see, I never gave the order that Traitor-san claimed to be acting under. So, he must be a traitor then! Hence, Traitor-san! See?"

Sasuke and Sakura could only stare at the masked-man before them, neither sure if they should be afraid or be incredulous. This man was the commander of the ANBU forces, _the_ commander. He answered to no one except the Hokage. Yet, here he was, acting almost just like...

Sasuke snapped his head towards Namida, then looked back at the commander. " You said 'Imouto', you meant Namida right? You're Namida's brother!"

The commander chuckled as he reached up and removed his mask as well as pull down the hood of his cloak, much to the shock of all those gathered. Shoulder-length blonde hair; pulled tight into a pony-tail, was the first characteristic noticed. Then the deep blue-eyes. Lightly-tanned was the skin-tone, which was surprising for someone who constantly wore a mask. If there had been any doubts about a sibling relationship, the whisker marks on each cheek banished them. The bright grin on the man's face could also lead a person to associate the blonde with the red-head of Team 7.

"Allow me to introduce myself! Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto is my name! Teasing my cute, little, Imouto-chan when I'm not on duty is my game!"

Namida covered her face with her hands to hide the blush. She was beyond embarrassed. She had always wanted to tell her friends about how cool her Nii-Sama is, about the important position he had in the village and how strong he was. Then he goes and ruins it by calling her "little" and "cute" and...she was blushing again. Never let it be said, that Namida was _not_ her mother's daughter. Faster than anyone could tell, the young spitfire launched herself at her brother.

"Well, let us head up to Hokage-Sama's office. He's been waiting for a while now.' Naruto ordered casually, even as he held his struggling sister tucked under one arm. 'As for the rest of you. Report yourself to Neko-Taicho. I'm sure she'll figure out a fun way to instill a good dose of fear into the lot of ya when it comes towards dealing with my cute, little, Imouto-chan!" The ANBU squad all nodded, each gulping a bit in fear, before vanishing.

Namida growled as she tried to bite her brother's arm, or his side, but to no avail. "NIIIII-SAMAAA! Let. Me. Go! And stop calling me 'little' and 'cute'!"

**I modeled Naruto's behaviour while he's under the mask after Ichimaru Gin, _the most badass character ever;_ my fav ;-) . I chose the name "Namida" because I had long ago decided that it was a much better name for a female Naruto than "Naru" "Natsumi" "Naruko" etc. At least in my opinion. In this idea, Naruto is currently 18 years old. Namida and Team 7 are all 13-14, depending on their birth-dates and the month this took place in. Sarutobi did the sealing, Namida is the jinchuuriki, and Naruto is the older brother that was revealed as a prodigy on Itachi's level. NO! There's no neglect towards Naruto, he doesn't hate his family or anything and they love him just as much as they do Namida. **

**Namida isn't canon-Naruto. She had her mother and father right there with her while she grew up and they taught her what she needed to know, she also mentioned that she had "another person" who taught her, that person being Naruto of course. She might not be like her brother when he was her age, but she's not a dead-last or anything. I had actually thought of her being the top kunoichi in the class. Sasuke being the Rookie-of-the-year and Sakura is the "dead-last". If you want a visual on where Namida might stand as a kunoichi, I'd say she's a mix of Tenten, canon-Naruto, and young Kushina. She knows when to be serious, she doesn't take crap from anyone and isn't afraid to fight (and she knows how to), but she's also bubbly and likes to have fun.  
><strong>

**Yes, Sakura was able to do the academy 3, she even got high scores on the written parts. I had Naruto later revealing to Sakura that she was considered "dead-last" because of the fan-girl phase she was in and the fact that she is still at the same level she was when she graduated. She hasn't done much to better herself. This isn't bashing either. Sasuke isn't a stuck-up emo who only wants power and revenge (he does want the latter, but with friends and rivals like Namida and a few others, he's more grounded) Sakura isn't being bashed either, she is just canon, but I figured on her changing before the Chunin Exams, or at least around that time. Not way after.  
><strong>


	10. Loss of Innocence

Towards the end of the Second Great Shinobi War, a young chunin of the Yamanaka clan had gifted the Sandaime Hokage with a rather plain clock. The clock was shaped in the image of a black cat. It appeared to be sitting up straight, one paw up near it's head. The actual clock was centered as the belly of the feline and besides the hands that showed the time and the constantly moving seconds-hand, the eyes of the cat moved as well with each second. Those black slitted-eyes constantly moved back and forth as if the clock was paranoid and needed to search every square inch of the room.

Initially, the Sandaime had thought the device was some sort of spying device. He quickly broke it apart searching for all the listening devices that would no doubt be hidden inside. He found none. Afterwards he had his secretary quickly go out and buy a new clock that looked exactly the same which he hung up in the office. It was actually quite the coincidence that, just as the secretary hung the clock -Hiruzen was _not_ watching how her backside was shown more clearly because of her actions- the Yamanaka chunin had walked into the room with her team ready for a mission.

As the eyes moved, the steady _tick, tock_ echoed throughout the office. Hiruzen calmly waited for his night-time guest to arrive. He had no desire, however, to have the conversation that was sure to come up in only a few moments. Hokage he may be, but the amount of power he actually had that could've prevented the events that had passed in the last few hours weren't enough. The amount of limited power that lead to the lonely life that a child had grown up knowing for the last twelve years were something that plagued his conscience. The aged Kage looked up as the door opened, his eyes fell on the solemn child that was being lead in by a certain gray-haired ANBU.

Uzumaki Naruto.

"Please have a seat, Naruto-kun." Hiruzen spoke softly, gesturing towards the chair before his desk.

The boy hadn't stopped moving upon entering the office and quietly made his way to the chair which he sat on the edge of. _Naruto_ and _quietly_ were just two nouns that shouldn't ever be placed in the same sentence. It was eery.

"I watched tonight's events Naruto-kun. I did not know what the situation was when I encountered you earlier but I know everything that happened afterwards. Know that you are not in trouble. Umino-san's decision to grant you genin-status will be honored. Is there anything you would like to say? Any questions you would like answered?"

The boy looked up from beneath the blonde fringe that shadowed his eyes. It seemed strange, that the boy could normally look so _sunny_. As if the light was capable of emanating off the child's mere cheerful emotions. From glittering blue-eyes, to the bright blonde hair. The boy didn't have to say a word to tell you how he felt, he was that easy to read. Now, however. The blonde locks seemed darker, lifeless, and seemed to lay flat on his head. The eyes were dull, emotionless. Not even a trace of anger or confusion, which by all right _should_ be there, were present.

"Before...' The boy's voice was just above a whisper. Scratchy, most likely because of the yelling and crying he had done earlier. 'I would ask a question and if you 'thought' it wasn't something I should know, you'd change the subject. Or you'd tell me you didn't know. Or that I was too young to know."

Hiruzen cringed. The boy might not be the smartest or the first to catch onto subtlety, but he had a memory that was very selective and _very _vindictive when it came to anything that directly involved Naruto. He couldn't remember a person's name he met only a week ago, but if that person he met a week ago said even _one_ negative thing to Naruto, the boy would not forget nor would he forgive.

Naruto wasn't lying when he would say that he forgave _Konoha_ for the way they would treat him. He, however, said nothing about forgiving the _people_ of Konoha for the way they would treat him. The boy wasn't a prankster for nothing. Hiruzen had a two-page list of the names of people Naruto had _accidentally_ put into the hospital. None truly life-threatening, the longest stay being two days. The point remains.

"I promise you Naruto. I will answer _any_ question you ask me this night. As long as it pertains to you."

"Am I the Kyuubi?" Was the first, and quick, response.

"No. You are merely it's jailor. The Yondaime could not defeat the Kyuubi. _No one_ can kill a bijuu. They are masses of chakra. The most that can be done is to drive them back and away or to seal them. The Kyuubi is a being of unfathomable destructive abilities, we could not even entertain the thought of driving it back. The Yondaime chose you as it's vessel; later that night we lost a Hokage and gained a jinchuuriki. That is the term used for one such as you. You are human still, you simply have something extra within you."

The boy was silent for a moment as he thought over the words. Hiruzen sighed internally, why had he spoken so foolishly? No doubt the boy would ask why the Yondaime chose him. Hiruzen wasn't sure if he would be able to omit the _true_ reason without this completely-aware Naruto sitting before him. Platitudes wouldn't work either, he _said_ he would give Naruto any answer he wanted. Hopefully, Kami-willing, Naruto wouldn't ask about his parents.

"Why?"

Kami must hate him, Hiruzen gathered.

"Tell me Naruto,' Best to speak to him as an equal. 'if you were Hokage, which of the countless parents of Konoha would you ask to give up one of their children...knowing you had a child of your own?"

The boy's head shot up so fast that the Hokage feared for the young boy's neck. That train of thought was interrupted by those blue orbs staring back at him. The emotions passing through them were moving to fast for Hiruzen to pick out a single one. All at once, the boy's face slowly lowered. Those orbs once again returning to their dulled state.

"I see. My...father...decided that to sacrifice his _only_' The boy peeked up at the Hokage who nodded at the obvious question 'son. Because of him I hold the Kyuubi inside me.' Naruto was silent for a moment before looking up again through his fringe 'What of my mother?"

Hiruzen sighed. "She was holding back the Kyuubi for your father. At some point, I guess her weakened form gave out because the Kyuubi was able to launch one final attack before it's sealing. I can only guess that it's target was you because your mother and father both had deep and fatal wounds through their bodies. Your mother's name was Uzumaki Kushina."

Naruto nodded, a slight and small smile on his lips. It was gone in a blink.

"Since my name is Uzumaki, I guess no one knows about my father? Since no one has ever figured it out, that means he was either with my mom in secret or did no one care to try to think of that?" The boy was sharp when he wanted to be, at any other time Hiruzen would've congratulated Naruto on his observation. So caught up on that, Hiruzen didn't realize he was about to reveal the worst thing he could've towards the child before him.

"Your father's last wish was for you to be seen as a hero. In all honesty, I should've kept your situation a secret and did whatever I could to keep you hidden from the village until you were at least five years of age. Your parents _did_ keep their relationship a secret, though it was mostly from the civilians. Any of their close friends should've recognized it straight away, especially when Kushina became pregnant with you. She never once showed intimate affection to any other male in the village besides your father. 'Intimate' in this case, meaning something as mundane as a hug. Your mother wasn't really liked by a large portion of the village, though she did nothing to change that.

As Hiruzen lost himself for a moment to his memories, Naruto stared at his clenched fists. A_ hero_? The village as a whole spat on his father's last wish. His _dying_ wish. He had just gave his life to save their collective asses, and they deny him his dying wish. Civilian, or shinobi. Outright disgust and _those_ looks or impassive willing-ignorance. They either hated him or just didn't care about him. The one who was sacrificed at birth so that they could live...

"Thank you Hokage-sama. I believe I have all the answers I want. I will report to the academy tomorrow morning for team assignments." Naruto had stood and when he spoke, it wasn't in anger or false cheerfulness. No, it was with nothing. There was no emotion to his voice whatsoever.

Hiruzen blinked, before giving a sad nod. "For your part in stopping a traitor to the village, you will be awarded with B-rank pay and a B-rank mission mark in your shinobi file. I will have Iruka speak of Mizuki's situation tomorrow before the team assignments. As for you being a jinchuuriki, you may tell..."

"Whoever I want." Naruto interrupted. Hiruzen's eyes widened.

"Naruto-kun, I realize your anger and disappointment in the village, to go this far however. There are many people in the village who do not know, you can use that ignorance to gain yourself allies, friends." Naruto shook his head.

"So I should have to use trickery to gain friends? Is that the only way I'll stop being alone? What happens when they find out? This wont remain a secret forever, one day it'll be revealed. Then what? From now until that day, my so-called friends will believe I have lied to them all that time and then they'll reveal their true selves. No. I will tell my teammates once they are selected."

Hiruzen could do nothing but look upon the genin before him. There was nothing that he could say or do that would change Naruto's mind. Sure, he could order Naruto to keep the secret but where would that get him? It would certainly only gain the ire of the boy and if Naruto's thoughts should ever stray, if they hadn't already, it would give more credence to going rogue. No, he'd let Naruto make his own decisions, however...

"Very well, Naruto. You may tell anyone you wish about being a jinchuuriki. You may also tell anyone you wish about your mother. However, I cannot permit you to reveal your father. This is not just about you, but about village security. If Iwa or Stone, or even Kusa were to hear that Namikaze Minato had a child -a son- then Konoha would be at war. I must ask you to give me your word that you will keep that a secret at least until you reach jounin rank or have gained an A-rank status in the shinobi world."

Naruto stared back at him for a moment then nodded his assent "I give you my word Hokage-sama. I will not reveal who my father is to anyone , even if they already know, until I either become a jounin or gain A-rank status in the shinobi world." With that the boy gave a polite bow then quickly turned and left the office.

Hiruzen sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that evening. He had expected an unpleasant evening but he had _not_ expected this. What was he to do? He knew it wasn't uncommon for other villages to announce to the world who their jinchuuriki were, Kumo was more than happy to do so in fact. So he couldn't really give that argument, if Naruto already knew or if he suddenly found out the results could be disastrous. He needed as many reasons to have Naruto trust him. It would be a while but hopefully the boy would regain his faith in the village, if there was ever any faith to begin with.

A glass mug smashed against the wall and shattered which prompted two ANBU to materialize. "_Out._" He didn't shout, but his voice carried with it all of the Sandaime's anger. The two black-op members were more than quick to vanish. Hiruzen seethed in his anger. How could Konohagakure, the village he loved and had fought for since the First Great Shinobi War, become what it had? To persecute a child for the sins of the father? Even if they didn't know that last part, they still took out all their anger and grief on a helpless and ignorant child! Now, that child was seemed more than willing to return the favor.

Hiruzen looked down at his desk and saw the stack of folders that held the team placements. He searched through them till he came to the one he wanted. He searched for another folder and then placed it above the first. Opening both folders he removed a profile from each and then exchanged them. Closing the folders and re-stacking them, Hiruzen flared a bit of chakra. From the shadows a black-ops member appeared on one knee

"Hokage-sama." Was the simple greeting. Hiruzen handed the ANBU the stack of folders.

"Get these to Umino Iruka and tell him that these are not to be touched. The changes I have made in regards to Team's Seven and Eight are permanent by my order. If anyone has a problem with it then they can take it up with me. After this is done, you may dismiss yourself for the night."

The ANBU took the folders and, with a bow, vanished. Hiruzen grit his teeth as he made his way out of the office. His sudden interference in the team assignments set in motion a flurry of other changes he found himself wanting to make. For better or worse, this village and the council will once again remember _who_ it is that is in charge.

* * *

><p>Naruto walked into the classroom that he had spent his last academy year in. Iruka was standing at the front of the class, obviously waiting for him if the somewhat annoyed look on his face was any indication. Despite the look, Iruka gave Naruto a smile and gestured for him to take a seat.<p>

"Hey Dobe! What are you doing here? Don't you know only graduates are allowed in this class?" Inuzuka Kiba shouted. The sudden outburst was met by laughter and jeering from nearly the rest of the class.

"Kiba! Shut up and sit down! Graduate or not I can still give you detention!' The Inuzuka sat back in his seat sullenly for being yelled at. Iruka sighed before speaking again. 'To get the record straight, Naruto failed yesterday on purpose. He did so on my and Hokage-sama's orders so that he could complete a B-rank mission that he was uniquely suited for."

At this the class were all now staring at Naruto bug-eyed. For his part, the blonde stared back impassively, though inwardly he was amused and surprised at Iruka's version of last night's events.

"As you may have noticed, Mizuki is not here. That is because he was really a traitor to Konoha!' The class gasped at Iruka's declaration. 'We were able to figure this out and also figured out what it was that he wanted. Mizuki planned on stealing a very important document from the Hokage tower and Hokage-sama had Naruto approach Mizuki and 'beg' for a way to become a genin. Mizuki, in his arrogance and fear of being caught, took the bait. He told Naruto what he wanted and once Naruto 'stole' it and handed it to Mizuki, the traitor was arrested by several ANBU who had been lying in wait."

The class was now staring at Naruto in awe. The "dobe?" the dead-last of the class for the last three years had tricked a chunin? Not only that but before even becoming a genin he had completed a B-rank mission? There were hearts in the eyes of a few of the girls in the class.

"Is there anything you would like to say Naruto?" Iruka asked. The boy nodded and moved to the front of the class.

"Please do not interrupt Iruka-sensei. I have already received approval and nothing is going to stop this." Naruto spoke without turning towards the chunin behind him. Iruka frowned in confusion but vocally acknowledged his agreement.

"Twelve years ago' Naruto started, and Iruka's eyes widened 'it is said that the Yondaime Hokage killed the Kyuubi who was attacking the village. This is a lie!"

Naruto's words were met by disbelief and a bit of outrage. Iruka could only watch in trepidation.

"The bijuu cannot be killed, fore pure chakra cannot be so simply destroyed. That is what the bijuu are. Chakra given thought. Instead, the Yondaime did the only thing he could. He sealed the fox away."

Naruto unzipped the orange jacket he always wore and let it fall to the ground revealing the white t-shirt underneath. Casually he lifted the t-shirt so his stomach and abdomen could be seen. Some of the class shouted at him for being so inappropriate while a few of the girls cheered. Naruto may be twelve years old but with the amount of exercise he gets on a daily basis along with the Kyuubi inside him destroying any traces of unneeded fat or other undesirables in his body, the young boy's body was like a rock. A flat, undefined rock, but a rock nonetheless.

Naruto then made a one-handed simple hand-sign that was mostly used for channeling chakra and the graduates gasped when the black ink suddenly appeared on Naruto.

"This is what the Yondaime used to seal the fox inside me. Right now it's within my body somewhere behind my chakra system. I've never heard from it, much less spoken to it. There was never a moment when I was aware of something other than my own consciousness being inside me. It is there though, I can feel it now that I know what to look for."

The newly minted genin could only look on in shock as Naruto spoke to them about having the Kyuubi being sealed inside him. The life he had as an orphan, how it was made so much worse because the village decided that Naruto was the perfect punching bag for their anger and grief. How the first friend he had ever made in the village was a girl his age. He had then had to watch as the girl's mother came and pulled her away telling her to never get near "_that beast_" again. At this point, Naruto waved at Sakura who flinched back as the memories from that day long ago returned. How could she have forgotten. As Naruto talked, the class could do nothing more than listen. They had no idea that one of their own classmates had lived such a life, they also had no clue how Naruto could talk about it without a single ounce of inflection in his voice. Then he was done.

"I don't care if any or all of you decide that you don't want anything to do with me. It's nothing new anyhow.' Many flinched at that 'I don't care if the two who end up teamed with me go to Hokage-sama and beg to be put on a different team. I don't care if you hate me, again, nothing new.' More flinches 'I don't care if you start calling me cruel names or acting like I'll suddenly decide to eat you or kill you."

Naruto turned away from the class and quietly told Iruka he was going to Ichiraku's for something to eat. Iruka just as quietly told him that he'd inform Naruto's Jounin-sensei. The boy shrugged then walked towards the door, as he opened it, he turned to look at the class over his shoulder

"I just don't care anymore."

**I never really see something like this. Though I probably took it a little far. Naruto, in fics where he actually questions why the Yondaime chose him, always end up doing one of a few things:**

**-is sad and angry at first then understands and then forgives then is happy again, all within ten minutes.  
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**-is understanding but hates the Yondaime  
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**-is angry and doesn't want to understand  
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**-is sad for a few days and then turns into one of those "I don't deserve love and the village is right to punish me. I understand their grief"  
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**-hates the villagers.  
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**There's never really any middle ground that doesn't sound completely implausible. I can see a Naruto acting the way I depicted him for a few months, or longer or shorter, and then coming around back to himself. I can't just see Naruto brushing off the fact that he has a demon sealed inside him like in canon or most fics. I DEFINITELY cannot see him brushing off the fact that his father was the Yondaime like he does in canon or most fics. In canon, it doesn't show any conversation at all between Naruto and Hiruzen about the Kyuubi being sealed inside him.  
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**If there was, it would be hard to explain why Naruto wouldn't ask why the Yondaime chose him. I suppose it would be hard, because there's no real way for Hiruzen to answer that without allowing the reader to come to their own conclusions. He can't just lie to Naruto either because Kishi would have to explain later on when Naruto learns the truth why he doesn't get angry that he was lied to (because you know canon Naruto wouldn't even think about that) And no one really emphasizes Iwa's disposition towards Konoha around Naruto. He doesn't even question why he wasn't told in canon. He just accepts it like Minato told him the next day was going to be cloudy.  
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**Can't think of anything else.  
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**C.D. the XPG~  
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	11. The New World Order

It could be correctly assumed that Uchiha Mikoto was not thinking clearly when she kicked open the door to the Hokage's office and rushed inside. Her disheveled state, the wild look in her eyes that bordered the edge of hysteria, her hands clenched tightly into fists. Yes, it's no surprise that the Hokage's personal ANBU guard suddenly appeared to take down the obvious threat. It _was_ a surprise when the first two ANBU fell victim to Mikoto's Double Round-house Kick Attack -the Hokage still wasn't sure if the girl was serious about that being the official name of that attack- and it was further surprising, at least to the ANBU when the two that were hit with the attack went flying through the nearest window.

The remaining ANBU made to draw their ninja-to but were stopped when a single word ripped through the office like a bolt of lightning.

"Halt." Despite the power in the word, it was spoken in a soft and calm voice.

The Hokage stood, his hands behind his back, in his "Business" position.

"Mikoto, what is the meaning of this?"

The girl was breathing heavily. She was only thirteen years old but at the moment she could easily be mistaken for a girl in her late teens. Despite her age and petite-size, that had nothing to do with such silly concepts like dieting to "maintain her image", the girl was one of -if not THE- best kunoichi in Konoha. Of course, a lot of that was attributed to who had taught her.

After taking a couple of deep breaths and visibly forcing herself to calm down she finally was able to speak.

"Sensei! Konoha just received two visitors claiming to be Uzumaki and my parents are in conflict with them!" The girl shouted pleadingly. Her unasked wish of him going out and solving the problem not needing to be spoken.

The Hokage sighed as he stepped around his desk and walked over to the window, holding out a hand towards the young Uchiha without looking at her. Not a moment later the young girl was at his side, her hand now in his. He gazed out across the rooftops of his village. A village he had been protecting and fighting for since the day he was born. A village that had at many times tried to deify him. He was their protector, their guardian angel...their god. It seemed almost fitting, after that line of thought, for him to prepare to use a certain jutsu to move through the village.

"Ready Mikoto-chan?" He asked with a slight smile on his face. The girl was looking up at him with obvious hero-worship in her eyes. Yes, she might be one of the top kunoichi of the village despite her age, but even if it didn't affect her skills or training she still looked upon him as if he was the greatest thing or person to appear in the world since the creation of hidden villages.

"Hai Sensei!" She chirped. Naruto nodded and gave her hand a squeeze as he pulled a kunai from within his robes. The kunai was thrown in a casual manner yet it soared across the village in the direction of the gates.

"Hiraishin!" In a nearly blinding yellow-flash that brought all village attention towards it, the two traveled across the village and appeared a half-second later at the gates.

All commotion halted at their arrival. Naruto looked around at the gathered ninja, his ninja.

There were two redheads, one of which looked familiar to him, standing closer to the gate. Both were in battle stances but had obviously not attacked yet. The two gate guards, two distinctive chunin that he had known for a good part of his life, stood on either side of the two groups. Then there was _them_.

The Uchiha patriarch and matriarch. As well as their two sons, both of which were two and three years -respectively- younger than Mikoto. Naruto sighed as he moved forward.

"Is there any reason why the four of you are causing a disturbance at my village gates?" He questioned mildly of the Uchiha group. The patriarch snorted but didn't answer, nor did his two sons whom, after a moment of watching their father, gave the exact same response. The matriarch however took a few steps towards the Hokage and quickly began reciting _her_ version of the events.

"Hokage-sama! These two are claiming to be Uzumaki, and while that's a problem it's not the biggest! It's _her_!" Naruto eyed her for a moment before turning towards the red-headed female. She and her companion were now standing in a relaxed-guard now and he had to study her features for a moment before he recognized the glasses on her face.

"Ah! Karin! You've returned! And I see that you found him." Naruto smiled and his smile widened when he saw Karin blush. Really, she was too easy to fluster.

"Yes, Uzumaki-sama. He didn't believe me right away but I was able to prove it to him in combat." Karin said demurely. Her hands clasped in front of her, her head tilted downwards though she was looking up at him through her eyelashes. _'and sometimes, she just _act_ inno__cent__'_

"Naruto!' Sakura yelled. Looking at him as if he had gone crazy 'She's a threat to the village! She left here without authority and..."

"...and didn't accept Sasuke's marriage proposal?" Naruto interrupted. Calm as ever. This left Sakura gaping and Sasuke a bit ruffled.

"Yes. I know of that little event. She said 'no' and Sasuke became upset. Entitlement is a rather undesirable trait to believe you have possession of Sasuke." Naruto simply smiled as he subtly directed Mikoto towards the Uzumaki.

"Escort them to my office Mikoto-chan." He ordered. The girl beamed up at him and quickly moved towards Karin and the Uzumaki male.

"Of course Naruto-sensei." Naruto favored her with a smile before turning back towards the Uchiha family.

"Sakura, I do not know why you are trying to claim that Karin isn't an Uzumaki. After all, it was your husband who learned of it first and was also the one who told me in the first place." Sakura's eyes widened and she turned back towards Sasuke. Said Uchiha simply stared at her before turning to Naruto.

"Karin is important to me, Naruto. She was my partner after that mess with Orochimaru, she stayed with me all the way through the war. I want her to be apart of my clan." Naruto had to chuckle at the gall of his former teammate.

"Oh? Is that how it is? I suppose she was pretty important huh Sasuke? So important you ordered Sakura to kill her? Then you abandoned her to her fate at Konoha's hands. 'With you through-out the war'? Honestly, the war had barely kicked off when you ditched her. She was here in Konoha, enjoying the _caring_ hospitality of Morino Ibiki. No, she will not join your clan seeing as how she does not wish to." Naruto watched the fury that was rolling just below the surface of Sasuke's exterior. Give the guy credit, when he had finally grown up he excelled at hiding his emotions...at least from everyone except Naruto. Sasuke's own parents wouldn't have be able to understand their son better than Naruto even if they hadn't died.

"I know what you're up to Sasuke. You want the Uzumaki longevity and large chakra reserves to be combined with the Uchiha bloodline. Karin has declined, so it's not going to happen."

Sasuke glared at Naruto before turning to walk away, his two young sheep and an unsure wife following him. Sakura had turned to look back at Naruto with an emotion in her eyes that Naruto was not able to read clearly, though it might've been that he hadn't wanted to. When they were only a dozen yards away, Naruto called out one last time.

"Oh! Sasuke! It also doesn't help your situation that Karin is already engaged. After all, what would it say about me, if I allowed my fiance to run off into the arms of some other man?" With that Naruto vanished in a yellow-flash. Leaving three fuming Uchiha males and one shocked Uchiha wife.

**Didn't put too much description in this. I just went with the flow. I tried to delay the fact that the "Hokage" that was being talked about was Naruto, throwing it off with Mikoto's name (which would reasonably be a name that Sasuke would choose for one of his daughters). I decided not to get to far into describing past events in this. You could think of it as the middle of a fic where you would already know everything and this was just another chapter. **

**If I were to say anything about the background, it would be that Sasuke switched sides during the war and helped Konoha defeat Madara though it was Naruto that did Tobi in. Sakura went back to liking Sasuke and the two eventually married, she was seen as "worthy" because of her being trained by a Sannin. Naruto might have married as well, perhaps Hinata or another girl that he was close to (like the filler girls, i.e. Amaru, etc) I can see Sasuke not putting much faith into a female kunoichi, even if she's his own daughter. Mikoto is the oldest, and while skilled, Sasuke wanted a son and got two of them. He puts more effort and attention into them. Mikoto found herself as Naruto's apprentice. Sasuke didn't honestly mind seeing as how even he can admit that Naruto was perhaps the strongest shinobi in the Elemental Nations and that's before you take into account the Kyuubi, summoning, Sage-Mode and the Hiraishin. Sasuke might have some Sharingan power ups but he's still not as strong as Naruto.  
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**Naruto being the Hokage as well would only add to the Uchiha clan's prestige. Sasuke would be able to say that his eldest was hand-picked (even if it's an exaggeration) by the Hokage to be his apprentice. Mikoto, being overlooked by her parents (Sakura because she does what Sasuke says and wants) would find a pseudo-father in Naruto. Think of those anime where you have that one really strong guy who has a young girl, that he has taught, by his side and she all-but worships the ground he walks on. Thats how Mikoto is. She might hero-worship Naruto, but she doesn't neglect her training because of it, she actually does the opposite, training to become as strong as possible to make Naruto proud of her. Whether or not that turns into romance is neither here nor there.  
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	12. Crossover Level Maximum

Namikaze Naruto, formerly known as Uzumaki Naruto, groaned as he slowly came back to consciousness. The headache he instantly felt was not helped in the least by the dark-haired figure, who was hovering above him, shaking him and repeatedly trying to wake him. A fist to the face quickly solved that issue.

"QUIT IT ALREADY!" The blonde Hokage snapped as he sat up, his fist still extended. After a moment the war veteran took in his surroundings and not a moment later was he instantly on the other-side of the room he had found himself in, back pressed against the wall and a tri-pronged kunai held defensively in front of him.

"Who are you people and where have you taken me?" He demanded in a calm, but dangerous tone.

The person who had been trying to wake him was getting back to his feet while rubbing his jaw, a slight grin on his face. The young man appeared to be a few years younger than Naruto; he'd say about twenty-eight years of age. He had short black hair, brown eyes, and a thin, wiry, body frame. He was also wearing a pale yellow shirt and a pair of light blue pants.. Despite his body size, Naruto could easily tell the man was a born fighter. It was in the eyes. Naruto had seen those eyes before, every time he looked in the mirror. Those, were the eyes of a person who had seen too much too soon and had resolved to deal with it with his fists rather than his words.

"Man. You sure do got a heck of a punch you know that?' The man half-mocked. He had lowered the hand that had tended to his jaw and Naruto's eyes narrowed when he didn't see so much as a bruise left behind. The man had noticed this apparently and had said as much. 'Heh. Surprised there's no bruise? I have my demon blood to thank for that. So anyway, what's your story? Oh and by the way, we're in the same situation as you. We were all taken from our homes or lands and ended up here, you were just the latest one to arrive."

Naruto eyed the man for a few moments, his senses revealing no deceit. After another moment he straightened up and cast an glance around the entire room, taking in it's occupants, before turning back to the dark-haired warrior in front of him. The comment about having demon blood had, of course, caught his attention. Seeing as he was speaking the truth, Naruto had only one possible solution in mind about why he was in the same room as the person before him.

"Before I answer you, first allow me a question.' Naruto stretched out his senses discreetly towards the others in the room before continuing, not waiting for an answer. 'Does the term 'jinchuuriki' mean anything to you?"

The man frowned for a moment, his face scrunching up in thought before replying a minute later.

"I think I heard of something like that a long time ago. That has something to do with demons possessing humans right?"

Naruto shook his head. "It's the other way around. It's the act of a human sealing a demon inside either themselves or another human. Usually a newborn child."

The man's eyes widened before quickly hardening. Naruto could easily see the disgust in his eyes.

"Who the fuck would do something like that? You better hope you aren't that type of guy; from your punch earlier I got a good read on you and I can tell you're strong. So don't go letting me down by saying you do shit like what you just said."

Naruto blinked in surprise at the animosity the man had for an act that he had previously never heard of, or at least, never heard of correctly. The blonde shook his head and held up his hands in a placating gesture. He had noticed that a few of the other occupants, who had chosen to remain silent, were also turning a narrowed eye upon him.

"I would never be such a hypocrite as to do what has been done to me to another. I was working a theory I had as to why we are all here, if what you have told me is true." At his words, the man's eyes widened a bit in understanding before he dropped his hostile stance. He eyed Naruto, gauging him either for honestly or to search out his intentions by Naruto's guess, and when he had apparently found what he was looking for the man nodded with a slight grin.

"So, you're a demon then? Forced into it huh? I hear that. Was just a regular human until the day I died, bunch of stuff happened after that and just when I was getting used to everything BAM! Some old guy comes up and basically says 'Congrats kid! You're a demon!' yea, that was a real riot. My name is Yusuke Urameshi, by the way. Twice King of Demon World. Former Spirit-Detective and before that I was just a punk kid who couldn't be bothered to get to school on time much less do the school work or stay out of fights." At the end of his introduction the man held out his hand towards Naruto.

Said blonde blinked at the lengthy title; was definitely surprised at the claim to being king of the demon world and that the man had already died. He shook off his shock before laughing boisterously and reaching out and grabbing Yusuke's hand, shaking it firmly.

Yusuke smirked, then looked around the room. "Well, you guys gonna stop being so anti-social and introduce yourselves? Damn wall-flowers."

Of the four, the two females and the younger looking male moved forward. The older, dark-skinned, man whom was dressed in all black stayed where he was, leaning his back against the wall. The first to step up to Naruto was a young woman with lavender hair which caused Naruto to immediately think of the Hyuuga clan's eyes. Her eyes were arctic blue and held a hint of playfulness that hid the warrior that the blonde knew the woman was. Her outfit was quite out of place when compared to the others in the room. A tan and dark-brown skirt that was entirely too short to be considered appropriate -not that Naruto minded at the moment- that was mostly covered by a baggy white sweat-shirt with blue sleeves. The most interesting feature the Rokudaime had noticed was the lollipop the girl had in her mouth which she didn't remove even as she spoke.

"Hello.' The girl had greeted kindly. 'I am Shirayuki Mizore. I was born a demon, more specifically I was born a Yuki-Onna. My race is always on the edge of nearing the endangered-species list because of the fact that all of my people are female. We learn from an early age that we are to one day find a suitable mate to reproduce with to further our race's survival. All Yuki-Onna give birth to females which is both a blessing and a curse. When I was a teenager I attended a school for Yokai, there I met a pleasant boy whom I thought was the one I would one day mate with. Unfortunately this did not occur, seeing as how he was more enamored with another girl. They are married now I believe, though I heard she cheats on him. I was on an expedition with my mother when I suddenly found myself here."

Naruto smiled as he took the young lady's hand in his own and laid a small kiss on the back of her knuckles. He grinned mischievously when the faintest of blushes spread across her cheeks. Mizore stared up at him for a moment before taking a step back. Her hands moving behind her back, her head tilted slightly to the side and the stick of the lollipop moving from one corner of her mouth to the other. He gulped and suddenly felt like his collar had become a little too tight, ignoring the fact that he wasn't wearing a collared shirt.

Suddenly another person moved towards Naruto and the blonde's gaze turned towards him. Black messy hair. Green eyes that seemed a bit too on the eery side to be considered normal. What appeared to be a cloak but was more flowing and baggy than normal; a robe, fit the description better. Also, just above the wire-thin spectacles the young man wore was a faint scar, it ran up under the locks that nearly fell into the man's eyes so Naruto wasn't able to see it clearly.

"Harry James Potter. I'm a wizard from the British community. When I was born a prophecy was made that I was somehow going to be responsible for the fall of a Dark Lord.' When Harry saw the blank look on the blonde's face in front of him he paused and went back and clarified. 'A wizard is someone who can do magic, a female magic-user is referred to as a witch. Sometimes there are wizards and witches who decide to use their magic to harm others or to simply cause destruction. Eventually they'll gain a leader who will usually be stronger, magically, than everyone else. These types are usually called "Dark Lords". The one that I was supposed to defeat because a prophecy said so was a particularly powerful wizard. He had heard of the prophecy and came to my home when I was one years old. He killed both of my parents before turning to me. Some form of magic that I'd rather not get into caused the killing blow to turn back on him and ended his mortal life. Somehow he was able to come back again and again due to soul anchors he had created when he was younger. There was a long and nearly-fruitless war that I was smack in the middle of and at the end, I felt like I hadn't truly achieved anything when I finally was able to defeat him. It was some years later that I found myself to be the owner of three rare and powerful artifacts that led to my immortality. Everything I have attempted and anything that has been done can not rid me of these artifacts and I have since been re-named as the 'Master of Death'."

Naruto blinked a few times as he stared at the man before him. Slowly, but surely, he took a deep breath and regained his composure before taking Harry's hand and giving it a firm shake, then said with a completely serious look on his face.

"I have absolutely no clue as to what you just said other than your parents were killed for reasons out of yours and their control, you were forced into a war at a young age and now you can't die."

Harry blinked back in surprise before giving a lop-sided grin in return to Naruto's suddenly cheerful appearance. This guy reminded him a lot of Sirius and the twins. Serious one moment, then laughing and joking the next. He, like it had been said about Harry during his later years at Hogwarts, had a way of calming those around him. _Something to do with the eyes perhaps_ Harry thought, unknowing that he was repeating Naruto's earlier sentiments about Yusuke.

The second female moved forward with a neutral look on her face. She stepped in front of Naruto and locked eyes with him. She had hair that was a darker shade of red than Naruto had ever seen on a person. His mother's hair hadn't even been that dark. Her eyes were dark, he'd say black but wasn't sure. She wore a black leather outfit that hugged her body rather firmly. Naruto held the woman's gaze, frowning after a moment when he felt an attempted intrusion into his mind. After years around mind-readers such as Yamanaka Ino and her father as well as being around certain Uchiha who liked to take over people's minds with their cheap doujutsu, Naruto and Kurama had learned to combine their efforts to keep intruders out. When it was something like what the Uchiha could do, Naruto had the force of will backed by yokai to block their attempts. When it was like the Yamanaka's way, actually appearing in his mind, Naruto would use his mind to force the intruder into Kurama's cage and slam the door shut. He suppressed a smirk when he noticed the woman's features darken.

"Why can I not read your mind? There is no one in any galaxies who can keep me out." The woman bluntly asked. Her tone more curious than apparently outraged.

Naruto shrugged. "That's my little secret, but I might be tempted to tell you if you tell me why you were trying to read my mind in the first place."

"I have been able to read the minds of everyone in this room. I did it in order to assure myself that I was not amongst enemies. It seems that no one here, including myself, knows why we are all here or anything that was happening when we were taken. Now you appear, and I cannot read your mind."

The woman's tone had remained the same throughout her blatant accusation and Naruto didn't miss the suspicious looks on Harry's and Mizore's face. Yusuke simply stood back with his hands behind his head with a knowing look on his face and the man near the corner of the room didn't so much as twitch.

Naruto stared down at the woman for a moment before shaking his head. He could argue his case but it was only logical, _'__Dammit, who am I? An Aburame?"_, that he do what he did next.

"Very well. I'll lower my defenses and allow you access to my thoughts. However, there is a presence in my mind that you'll feel almost immediately, or so I'm told. Do not go towards that presence. I can not guarantee your safety nor your sanity should you decide to do otherwise."

With that Naruto relaxed his body and gave a short nod to the red-headed woman. She didn't respond to it, only staring back at him. Instantly the pressure returned and Naruto thought of everything he had been doing this past week and even gave up a few more memories that went back at least a year. After a while the pressure pulled back, he had noticed that she hadn't even attempted to move anywhere else in his mind and for that he was grateful. With a slow nod and the faintest of smiles the woman stepped back.

"I am Jean Gray. I am also an entity known by some as the Phoenix Force. Where I'm from, I am as a mutant. A mutant is a person who was born with the X-gene which gives the individual person a unique ability. My abilities were along the lines of mental powers such as telekinesis and telepathy. When I was young I had poor control over my abilities and a good friend and mentor of mine named Charles Xavier put blocks on my abilities until I was older so that I could better control myself.' Jean paused for a moment as a memory passed through her eyes. 'Recently, a human by the name of William Stryker kidnapped many students from Xavier's school, all of which are mutants who are at the Institute in order to help learn control of their abilities. Stryer _hates_ mutants and had plans to wipe us all out. After we rescued the children and stopped Stryker, we were making our escape when the dam nearby broke sending an entire lake full of water crashing towards us. I stayed behind and used my powers to help the rest of the group get away but I wasn't able to do so myself. The last thoughts I had were being crushed by the water. The next thing I know I was here. At the moment, I seem to have two identities in my mind. One is Jean Gray, the other is The Phoenix. We both know that we should be trying to fight for who is in control but for some reason beyond us, we are at peace with each other...at least, for the moment."

Naruto smiled as he shook the woman's hand. He would've been polite with her as he was with Mizore by placing a kiss on her hand but something told him that she wasn't the type to accept something like that. Mizore on the other hand seemed quite pleased that a hand-shake was the only physical contact between Jean and himself. Inwardly he shrugged, he dodged a bullet twice in one move.

"Namikaze Naruto, also of the Uzumaki clan.' Naruto started, deciding it was time to introduce himself.' Last of both clans. Forced to bear the burden of having a demon lord sealed in me at birth, so I'm not exactly a demon Yusuke more like half of one. I became a shinobi at the age of twelve and went on to defend my village from countless threats, many of which were so far out of my league it wasn't even funny. Promoted during the Fourth Great Shinobi War for various reasons, mostly of which is the fact that I was at the lowest rung of our military system yet I was one of the strongest people walking the nations. Declared Rokudaime Hokage, unanimously, by my entire village; happiest day of my life. I was sitting in my office, last I knew, and didn't even realize something was amiss till I awoke here. As far as the demon inside me, we have come to an understanding and our relationship is much better than what it used to be. However because of that, my life-span increased beyond what it already was and according to _him_ I might be near-immortal."

The others nodded their heads in acknowledgement and Yusuke seemed

Looking past the red-head, Naruto eyed the dark figure against the wall. Said man slowly turned his head towards Naruto. He was wearing a cloak that covered his body from shoulders to just above the ankle. Despite covering most of his body, Naruto could see the black vest beneath it, metal buckles and leather straps criss-crossing along the man's chest. Black leather boots and gloves covered feet and hands. Black sunglasses covered the man's eyes. The one thing that really stood out to Naruto was the silver handle of a sword that poked up directly behind the man's head. It's sheathe was apparently under the cloak but there was obviously an opening near the neck-line that allowed the hilt to pass through.

"His name is Blade.' Harry revealed, gaining not only Naruto's attention but Jean's as well. 'I just wanted it to be known that I have a few mental abilities as well. That's why it wasn't so easy to access my mind Jean, I recognized what you were doing and let my shields down before you reached them. Anyway. That guy's name is Blade. He's a vampire, or at least a form of one. His kind doesn't exist amongst the vampires from my world. While they aren't like the blood-ravenous fiends from horror books, they are pretty dark when they want to be. Mostly they leave mortals alone, only going out to feed on those who cross into their territory, I hear they have blood-banks set up to slake their thirst but it's all legal and willing donors."

The man who had been looking at the wizard just like everyone else stepped away from the wall. He rolled his head, getting a few cracks for his effort. He then took a few steps forward until he was closer to the group. Naruto, Yusuke and Mizore could sense the predator within the dark-skinned man. He was a coil ready to spring; a switch ready to be flipped. At the same time, he seemed relaxed. It was then that Naruto and Yusuke both reached the same conclusion, the man was always in a state of readiness that it had become second-nature for him to be ready to fight at the drop-of-a-hat even if he was "relaxed".

"You know my name, so I'll tell you this. I'm a Daywalker. I hunt vampires. I don't do teams." With that he went silent and seemed to be waiting for someone to challenge him. Before any of the other, bemused or annoyed, occupants could speak their thoughts the room was filled with static. The six quickly looked around the room for the source but found nothing. The static continued on as it lowered in sound until it cleared up altogether. Then a voice spoke.

"Blade. The Daywalker who has made it his life mission to eradicate all vampires, even though he's made a friend or two amongst them in the past. His mother was pregnant with him when she was attacked by a vampire that sent her into premature labor. The doctors were able to save his life but his mother died on the operating table...or did she?' The voice chuckled darkly even as Blade simply stood unperturbed. 'Despite the benefits of being what he is, Blade _loathes_ the fact that he is a vampire. In fact, he goes so far as to imbibe a genetically created serum that will suppress his blood-thirst, though as of recent months his immunity has been becoming to great to overcome such substitutes."

The others watched as Blade's lip curled in apparent anger yet he did not move from his spot. Naruto wondered what it would've been like to have this man's willpower when he was a genin. To be insulted, to have his secrets revealed so casually and to not react? It was inspiring.

"Ah, I suppose that is enough of that. Know this, all of you. Like Blade's history, We know all of yours as well. You are six amongst thousands that have been chosen to compete for our curiosity. To not compete is to die. To compete and advance to the final stage is to be able to return home. To win, however, is to be granted a single wish. To clarify, each member of your team will be granted a single wish. Nothing is out of our power. Jean Gray or Phoenix, do you wish to have you situation permanently settled? Perhaps create peace on your home-world between mutant and human. Mizore, would you wish to meet the man who would cherish you forever and raise a family with you? Blade, would you wish to be human? Harry, perhaps you would wish to return to being mortal while _those_ Three are forever lost to mankind? These things and more are easily within Our power to grant"

At this the six all were instantly thinking of how their lives could be changed if they were granted their deepest desire. Naruto and Yusuke found each other's gazes and both realized that they didn't necessarily have anything they wanted. Sure Naruto might wish that the Fourth Great Shinobi War never happened and all those lives hadn't been lost but that was the way of life for a shinobi. They died on the battle-field in the only way a shinobi would willingly wish for and he wouldn't take that away from them. Yusuke thought he might wish that he had never died in the first place and gone through everything he had but he was a better person for it and he had met way too many people to ever wish that he had not done so.

"Yes, you can have your greatest desire. However, you must first win. You also can not do this on your own. Your teammates were specifically chosen, you each either compliment each other's abilities or you are capable of performing the role that no one else can. Any way you choose to think of it as long as you work as a team. Allying yourself with another team is not against the rules, nor is killing another team. Be warned, there can only be a certain number of finalists. Now, make your decisions but do it quickly. This room shall open in exactly two minutes, at that time you will face your first encounter. Should you prevail, make your way through the jungle till you reach the other end. You'll receive your next set of instructions then."

The six stared in silence at the only door in the room before looking at each other. Could they do this? Naruto and Yusuke were already grinning as they stretched out their arms and legs and looked through their belongings to make sure they were prepared. Mizore was suddenly standing to the blonde's right and gave him a smile as she moved the lollipop from one corner of her mouth to the other making Naruto blush. Jean was mentally preparing herself while Harry cast a few spells from the Elder Wand to ensure he still could. Blade casually looked through his gear to ensure he had everything he usually did, he knew he wasn't just going to be able to leave his weapons wherever they fell since he would possibly have no way to re-gear; he would have to use everything wisely. He then moved towards the door and turned back to the group, gaining their attention.

"Well.' He said as a wide-smile appeared on his face, though it was anything but friendly. 'Who's team-leader?"

**Well now. This is an idea that I've been messing with for a bit, I was actually thinking over a HP idea when this suddenly popped in my head. I think it had a lot to do with the Avengers. Anyhow, the six have been transported from their homeworlds to fight in what is looking to be some sort of tournament. I'll be using some elements from the Chunin Exams and the many tournaments from Yu Yu Hakusho. There would be other characters, some from the same worlds as our main group while others would be from other worlds that most would find recognizable.**

**The idea right from the start is that they would find themselves in the middle of a skirmish between two large armies. For example, an army of xenomorphs and an army of orcs. Speaking of Xenomorphs I had toyed with the idea of putting a Yaut-ja (Predator) on the team but didn't want a DEM way of the group being able to understand him or vice-versa, also I doubt he'd seriously play nice with the team and help them.  
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**The first person I thought of for this team was obviously Naruto. After that Yusuke came to mind then Harry. From those three I tried to think of all the things they had in common to help pick the remaining three members. Originally was going to have it as 3 males and 3 females. Naruto, Yusuke and Harry are all immortal or near-immortal due to a certain circumstance. Kyuubi, being a demon, the Deathly Hallows. **

**I chose Mizore because there was nothing tying her to her universe and I figured after the Yokai Academy, with Tsukune the way he is, she would still be single. Having thought there was no one else, she simply became a warrior of her village, any man that was brought to her for the reason of reproduction had to beat her in combat first. She never left a single would-be-suitor alive. Obviously, I'd like to see her paired with Naruto, even if it's when this story would be completed.  
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**Jean, as stated earlier, is in between the second and third X-Men movie. Going with the film version of her instead of the comic books because I don't really know much about her. Her personality would teeter from Jean's temperament to Phoenix's. Her abilities are also not at their peak yet, so she's not ungodly powerful or be able to just totally ruin someone's day with a simple look.  
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**Blade is Blade. He ages slow and has simply been doing what he always does, and that is kill vampires.  
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**Harry is in the time of post-DH. He didn't marry Ginny, instead he became an Auror alongside Ron Weasley. Ron later was kicked out when a fellow Auror died due to Ron's incompetence and temper (Harry would tell the story later on). Ron and Hermione had already been on rocky ground but after his dismissal he began to blame Harry for not using his title and money to keep him from being fired and then began blaming everyone else for his failings. Hermione eventually left him and moved to America. Ginny was too much into the social life that came with being with the Man-Who-Conquered and Harry grew tired of it and left her before they ever got engaged. After some time Harry became a Hit Wizard. It wasn't until sometime later that Harry realized he wasn't aging. Being the Master of Death he felt more out of place in the world than he ever had before.  
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**Yusuke has been living in Demon World for a long time now. All his human friends have long since died and he stepped out of the lives of his children when they were old enough to understand. He keeps in touch with his demon friends from time to time but mostly he stays in the province left to him by his father Raizen. He has been King of Demon World twice since the inception of the tournament to gain that position and mostly uses the tournament to sees people like Kurama and Hiei. When he became a full demon, Yusuke knew he would have to either start eating humans or let himself wither away like his father did before him. He decided to take a middle-ground and be picky about what kind of humans he would eat, which were criminals and such.  
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**Naruto has been Hokage for a good while. When he carried an injured Sasuke back to Konoha after Madara's defeat, Tsunade had the Uchiha placed in prison. Kumo would accept no less if they couldn't have his head and Tsunade knew that the peace had to be kept, the countries had just gotten out of a war after all. Tsunade then made a small list of viable women who could become artificially impregnated to give birth to Uchiha babies. It would only be done once, so if any didn't take then the clan would be that much closer to extinction, also if any of the children didn't activate the bloodline then it was "too bad". Naruto wasn't surprised in the least when Sakura's name appeared on the list and she agreed. While she couldn't be with Sasuke like she had always wanted in the past, she could at least help him continue his clan. She had tried to remain friends with Naruto but he flat-out told her that he never wanted to speak with her again outside of a professional conversation. A few of the other kunoichi that were asked, refused. The final four women chosen were either retired genin or simple civilians. Tsunade then stepped down and proclaimed Naruto as Hokage, telling him that anything that happened to the village that concerned Sasuke was now on his shoulders. This was to keep him from letting the Uchiha out of prison. Two months before he was taken from his office, Naruto gave the order for a certain fellow jinchuuriki to gain a measure of revenge for their fallen sister who died at the hands of Akatsuki. Killer Bee's only words to Sasuke were "This is for Yugito." And the last member, whether he had remained one in the end or not, of Akatsuki died. Like Yusuke, Naruto doesn't have any true desires, he has three children to carry on his name. Two from Hinata and one from Temari, the latter's daughter remaining in Suna with her mother. None of the children were result of a marriage or even truly out of love. While there is love between the three, it isn't enough for them to be together. Hinata is her clan's leader, she with Naruto's help combined the Hyuuga's clan's two branches and now she raises her daughters while bringing the Hyuuga forward into the future. Temari and Naruto had actually been Gaara's suggestion. He didn't know of anyone else that he would ever trust with his only sister. The two had a few dates to see if it could be possible for them to be together, planning on it being a political marriage should they get that far but it was not to be. Temari was the one who offered to Naruto, in secret, to carry his child so that he would always be apart of Suna and also as a way of thanking him. Reluctant at first, he finally relented when it became clear that the battle-fan using warrior-woman wasn't going to take "no" for an answer. After she became pregnant, Naruto promised that he would always be there for her and their daughter.  
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**Of the Six, only Jean really cares about returning to her home-world. Yusuke, Naruto and Mizore wouldn't care too much how long they are gone because of the peace enjoyed back home. Blade knows that as soon as he returns it's back to hunting vampires and Harry isn't going to put too much faith in the team beating every other team in order to be granted a wish so he knows if and when he returns that he'll still be immortal and he doesn't really want to go back just to see his friends all die of old age while he still looks 25.  
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**think that's enough of an A/N  
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	13. WBWL

**Girl-Who-Lived, now Girl-Who-Died!**

**Was Azalea Potter who we believed her to be?  
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**Rita Skeeter.  
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**It is this reporter's solemn duty to inform the Wizarding World that the Azalea Lilith Potter, fourteen-year old Ravenclaw, and the one who rid us all of the nightmare that was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, has been murdered! **

**Who was the one that dealt the fatal blow to our world's heroine! None other than the Dark Lord himself!  
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**You are reading correctly my loyal fans! You-Know-Who has returned from the beyond to bring chaos and destruction to our world once again!  
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**As many of you all know through my recent reporting, the late Miss Potter was Hogwart's second Tri-Wizard Tournament Champion! Even after Victor Krum of Durmstrang; Fleur Delacour of Beaubaxtons; and Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff of Hogwarts were chosen, another name was ejected from the Goblet of Fire and so our young heroine was thrust into the dangerous world that is the Tri-Wizard Tournament!  
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**Azalea Potter gave quite the showing through the first two tasks of the tournament. She even went as far as giving us an inside look at her love-interests when Neville Longbottom was revealed as her Yule Ball partner. However, any possible future relationship between Houses Potter and Longbottom are no longer feasible due to the events surrounding the Third task.  
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**It has been revealed that Alastor Moody, former Auror and war-veteran, who was this years Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was in actuality a polyjuiced Death Eater! Who was this vile man that led to the death of the Girl-Who-Lived? Bartimus Crouch Junior!  
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**Though believed to have died in Azkaban, Crouch Jr had escaped many years prior thanks to his own mother! Former Head of the DMLE, Bartimus Crouch was in fact living with the very same son that he had condemned to Azkaban nearly a decade prior.  
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**Bartimus Crouch could not be reached at this time for a comment. It is believed that his son might've gotten his final revenge before he, himself, was given the Kiss on the orders of former Minister Cornelius Fudge.  
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**Back to the Third task, however! Miss Potter was reported to have reached the designated cup that would declare one the victor of the tournament. She was not alone however, Hogwart's champion Cedric Diggory had reached the cup at the same time. The two, in a show of Hogwart's unity and sportsmanship, took the cup together. It was then, that the horror began.  
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**The two champions were port-keyed to a graveyard far away. They were then accosted by Lucius Malfoy! Acting on previously given orders, Lucius Malfoy incapacitated Mr. Diggory and forced him to watch the rebirth of the Dark Lord.  
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**Once reborn, the Dark Lord called upon his followers and the graveyard was then filled with dozens of Death Eaters. After threatening them all for their perceived abandonment of their Lord, You-Know-Who then turned on the Girl-Who-Lived. He told his followers that Azalea Lilith Potter was _not_ the one who had defeated that night so long ago.  
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**No! Instead it was her older, by five years, brother; Harry James Potter. Heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, the same young man who has been missing from the Wizarding World since he graduated from Hogwarts. Past inquiries into the whereabouts of the Heir-Apparent of House Potter have been rebuffed time and again.  
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**In the graveyard, the Dark Lord challenged young Azalea Potter to a duel. to "Prove he was stronger and how wrong everyone was about that night." According to reports, Miss Potter was subdued in a matter of moments after the duel began. She was then tortured with the cruciatus curse for a lengthy amount of time before the Dark Lord, without hesistation, struck her with the killing curse. The same curse that Harry Potter lived through that fateful night so long ago, ended the life of Azalea Potter.  
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**What is going to happen to our world now? Who will stop the Dark Lord? Where is Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived?  
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**_James and Lily Potter's reactions to the death of their only daughter . Pg 5_  
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**_Cedric Diggory's recount on the Horror of the Graveyard. Pg. 4  
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**_Azalea Lilith Potter Remembered. Pg 9  
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**_Harry James Potter. our Savior? Pg. 2-3  
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**_Amelia Bones, new Minister of Magic! Amos Diggory, new Head of DMLE! Pg. 10  
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* * *

><p>It was several months later that the Order of Phoenix had finally tracked down the missing Heir of House Potter. It was well known to those who personally knew the Potters that there was always tension within their home when it came to the Potter Heir and the Potter parents. A smaller few were actually aware of <em>why<em> that was. Even now, James and Lily maintained that they did everything a parent could to make sure their children were both well taken care of.

Lord Sirius Orion Black could tell you that while it was true that James and Lily provided for both of their children, he would also be able to tell you that it wasn't until Azalea was born and Voldemort attacked due to a prophecy that the Potter parents had begun to show less emotional support to their eldest child and only son. While it could be reasoned that a baby needed more attention, that argument couldn't be applied years later when it was still Azalea who received the most attention while Harry was treated more like a cousin or guest rather than an actual part of the family.

James and Lily had never, truly, mistreated Harry. They didn't leave him wanting for food, clothing, or even money. They never scolded him for things he didn't do or do anything that would purposely make him feel that he wasn't part of the family. To an outsider, the Potters were a truly happy family.

However, despite being at least taken care of and knowing a semblance of love. The lack of attention caused the elder child to turn to another source of company. It just so happens that the company the boy kept was amongst the vast library the Potter family accrued over the generations that they had lived. Before going off to Hogwarts, Harry could usually be found visiting his paternal grandparents home more often than not. His grandfather Charlus Potter was more than happy to guide Harry through the family library. His grandmother Dorea Potter nee Black was also ecstatic to impart her views on the Wizarding World to her adoring grandson. This was also how Sirius had found himself paying more attention to Harry than Azalea or even his own friends. Sirius, through no fault of his own, was not capable of having children and had asked Harry if he would one day take on the title of Lord Black. The motivation was split between Sirius' sincere desire to name Harry his heir and to keep the title from the Malfoy's, specifically Draco Malfoy.

Despite Harry's assurances, Sirius was dismayed when his godson vanished after graduating from Hogwarts. Charlus and Dorea had both passed away before Harry's second year at Hogwarts and that had left a deep impact on the young boy. Sirius had been there for Harry as much as he could but even then the young Ravenclaw was becoming more and more distant from his family and everyone else. By Harry's fourth year, he was unquestionably the brightest and most magically powerful student within Hogwarts. Even older years were wary about antagonizing the silent prodigy. Fifth year had seen to Harry becoming a prefect. He remained at that position till his seventh year when he was made Head Boy.

By this time Harry was a well-respected person amongst the student populace, as well as the staff, of Hogwarts. He was known as being completely impartial when it came to his duties. Though it was also known that, outside his duties, Harry never took sides. He was known for placing Ronald Weasley in detention for an entire year only a month after his first year began due to the near-fatality of one Hermione Granger. Gryffindor Head of House, Minerva McGonagall had been stuck between being appalled at the punishment to being ashamed, yet she did not try to overrule the punishment. However, Dumbledore did. He wanted to let Ron go with a light punishment with the reasoning that the youngest Weasley male was only a child and was prone to mistakes.

The very next morning the entire story and Dumbledore's choice of a light punishment arrived in the form of the Daily Prophet. Letters and howlers poured in that week and finally the Headmaster relented and the punishment was once again put in place. It was a no-brainer that Ron had from then on hated Harry. It was made even worse for the boy when he tried to befriend Azalea, even if they were in opposite houses, but she immediately turned him down. It was then that many started to see the near hero-worship that the "Girl-Who-Lived" had for her brother. She was just as studious and attentive-to-detail as he was, though she struggled a bit in classes.

Sirius chuckled a bit. Azalea might've been a bit arrogant in her younger years but she didn't have a chance when it came to Harry. He had, by being himself, earned her respect and then her full attention. Whether or not she was the "Chosen One", Azalea wasn't an idiot. She wouldn't have been Sorted into Ravenclaw if she had been. She saw the way her brother treated her like anyone he knew. No preferential treatment, no platitudes, not even jealousy. Harry treated her like the little sister she was to him. He praised her when she deserved it and he scolded her when she deserved it, the latter happening more often during those years before Hogwarts.

By the time for Azalea to start her first year, her personality had changed quite a bit. She had taken to studying the books that Harry would bring home and leave laying around during the summers as well as her mother's old school books -her father having thrown his away not twenty-four hours after graduating- and was easily Ravenclaw material when it came to her Sorting. Her mother and father had been proud of her and had even encouraged her to follow in her brother's footsteps.

Sirius frowned at that. They would praise, in a round-about way, their son to their daughter, but wouldn't truly do so to Harry himself. Shaking himself from his thoughts, Sirius looked around. The Order, comprised of himself, the Potters, Remus, McGonagall, Flitwick, Hestia Jones, Alastor Moody, Sirius' cousin Nymphadora "Don't call me that!" Tonks and a few other members. They were being led across a massive field of green, white and yellow by Albus Dumbledore.

"This field is beautiful." Exclaimed Lily as she took in the sight of all the flowers in the field. There was a sort of pattern to them, Sirius thought. It was then he looked across the field to the large dome building near the tree line of the forest behind it. Along the walls on either side of the door were a row of pink.

"Azalea...' He trailed off when a number of gazes turned on him. Nodding towards the building he clarified. 'If there was any doubt that he was here, all those shrubs would put a stop to them. They're all azaleas and I'm pretty sure that's not a coincidence."

James stiffened at this and Lily choked back a sob, both no doubt thinking of how their eldest still loved his sister despite leaving her and their family behind. Albus smiled benignly and was about to, no doubt, say something that Sirius just _knew_ he was going to become irritated about when a small pop was heard. When they realized the cause of the noise, they all looked in front of them and saw the suspicious-looking House-Elf staring back at them, it's body language easily recognizable as hostile.

"Why is yous here? Yous is disturbing Master! He is not liking you trampling his beauties!" The Order all looked about them, at their feet, before turning back to the House-Elf in confusion. Lily was the one who quickly deduced what the elf meant.

"The flowers. Right? He doesn't want us walking on the flowers?" The elf nodded tightly. before raising a hand and, before the group could say a word, snapped it's fingers. An instant later the group found themselves transported out of the field and directly in front of the door. The elf was standing on the porch and was glaring at them now.

"Yous is not making Master unhappy or Snap be forced to take actions." As one, the Order nodded or murmured their agreement, not wanting to test the patience of a defensive House Elf. While they weren't well-treated in most house homes, it was only their masters that could get away with such behavior. However, if you were not the elf's master and you tried to attack them, or their master, you would find yourself regretting your actions faster than a Snitch can fly.

The group entered the building, after Snap opened the door for them, single-file. A long hallway stretched out from the door and they moved down it. There were various types of paintings on the walls of the hall. A few of the quick-witted members instantly realized that the left-side's paintings were all, though beautiful, mundane. The right-side paintings however were all magical. They were also mostly family members of either the Potters or Blacks. Charlus and Dorea were featured near the middle, and they eyed the group silently. James had noticed that his parent's eyes passed over him as if he wasn't even there, Lily found the same reaction to her presence.

Sirius saw many a Black that he had known in the past. His father and grandfather. An uncle or aunt here or there. he had stopped in shock upon seeing his brother.

"Regulus! What are you doing here?" He managed out, which caused the group to stop it's progress.

The young man in the painting stared back before turning away.

"I once asked you a question, a long time ago, Sirius. And you turned me away. I now repay that favor." With that the man walked out of the frame.

Sirius stared wide-eyed at the empty frame, his memory quickly shoving _that_ rainy night in front of his eyes and he felt bile in his throat. It was only a week later from that night that his brother's body turned up in the middle of Diagon Alley. Regulus had been strung up on a conjured thirteen foot metal spike. His belly had been ripped open and intestines hung out from the wound. It was a sight that Sirius had never been able to remove from his memory. The morbid thing was, he didn't truly want to. That was his penance, to always see his brother's dead body so he would never forget that he had done nothing to prevent it.

A slight tugging on his elbow brought his attention to his solemn-faced cousin. He nodded to her and the two moved back to the group as they began moving down the hall again.

It was only a few minutes that they reached the end of the hallway and entered a large circular room. Collectively, their jaws dropped at the sheer amount of books in the room. The circular room had shelves of books from the floor all the way to the ceiling. There was literally, not a single area of the room that was not covered in books. There were even piles on the floor here and there. In the center of the room, sitting upon a high-back chair that was situated atop a raised three-step stairway was none other than Harry James Potter.

He sat there reading a book that was in his lap. Black, straight hair that hung about his face down to his shoulders. Green eyes that moved slightly over the words on the current page he was reading. He was wearing a black cloak that hung over the arms of the chair. He was sitting in the proper gentleman position and, he had yet to look up at the gathered group. Deciding to take the initiative, Albus stepped forward.

"Harry.' He began, a kind smile on his face. 'We've come to visit you, to see how you have been doing since you left Hogwarts. Also, we have come to request that your return with us back to Wizarding Britain." He paused to gauge the young man's reaction and didn't have to wait long before a response came, though Harry still did not look up from his book.

"No. You did not.' He stated in a bored tone. 'You came here to _request_ that I take Azalea's former position as the 'Chosen One'. You came here for no other reason. If that were the case, you would've appeared long before now. Perhaps when my sister was still alive."

Though a few shivered at the words used, the tone had never wavered from bored. Albus frowned as he took in the Potter Heir before him. He had expected an outburt of some kind, he had expected either anger or joy to be brought back into the fold. He did not expect to be rebuffed so casually.

"I assure you that our intentions are pure, though I will admit I hope that you would take up the fight against Lord Voldemort." Many of the Order flinched at the name of the Dark Lord. Now, Harry looked up and his green eyes seemed to flash as his gaze cut deep into Dumbledore.

"Do _not_ call him a 'Lord'. He is not a 'Lord' of any House. He may have once had claim to House Slytherin but that has since passed via the laws of Conquest a long time ago. He is now nothing more than a half-blood playing at being above his station." With that said Harry turned back to his book, not caring to see the reactions to his words. Though a few were able to connect the dots to what Harry had revealed, it was Tonks, of all people, who blurted it out.

"You're Lord Slytherin!" Under the intense looks she got from the others of the Order, Tonks dipped her head in embarassment though she kept her eyes on Harry.

"I am, by Conquest. I am also Heir-Apparent, as you may know, to House Potter. There is also another House of which I may become Lord of." Harry, for whatever reason, did not name which House and Sirius was grateful for that, even if it wasn't necessary.

"They know already Harry. I told them after you left. I had to actually, since Draco Malfoy had been going around claiming that once I stepped down he would become the new Lord Black. Even if you weren't my heir, I'd still be Lord Black for many decades to come."

"If he was so bold as to begin proclaiming his future, supposed, Lordship, then it's not too farfetched that your health would not be guaranteed to make it through the year if Malfoy had any clue whatsoever that Riddle would be coming back. You would've been _forced_ to step down sooner than you would've liked." Sirius paled at this, while he wasn't ignorant to not know that he was a target, he didn't think he would be actively sought out just so an immature blood-purist could take over House Black.

Dumbledore had something else on his mind after Harry's last statement.

"How do you know that name Harry?" He inquired, trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice.

Harry looked up once again and after a moment, sighed. He closed the book and tossed it to the side. A pop revealed Snap catching the book, and another pop had the elf and book vanishing.

"There is a reason I read, Albus.' Harry started, seemingly uncaring for the reproachful looks he received for calling Dumbledore by his given name. 'Since the night Riddle attacked my family, I have been curious. Any question I could think of, any thing I wanted to know. I would find it out. One of the many things I found out is the history of the supposed 'Dark Lord'. I know of his beginnings. The love potions his mother brewed. Her death. The orphanage. You arriving to bring Riddle to Hogwarts. The suspicions you had but did not act on in regards to Riddle. How he gathered a following of blood-purists. How he became Voldemort, and most importantly...how it was that I defeated him that night."

Harry stared at the shocked looks on the Order member's faces. He then turned back to Albus.

"No. I will not tell you how. I found it out myself before I graduated. If a student can do that, then so can the supposed 'greatest wizard since Merlin'. To clear the air. I also know of the prophecy. I do _not_ know how it was that I fulfilled it, since I was obviously not born in the parameters of the prophecy and that is why I began to believe it was something else that happened that caused me to turn back the Avada Kedavra. It was somewhat startling to figure out what happened."

Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak but closed it again. He was speechless! Him! Albus Dumbledore! This child, for compared to Dumbledore that's what Harry was, had figured out so many of his carefully-kept secrets and then went on to figure out things that Dumbledore couldn't or simply didn't.

"Harry, please! You must tell me how it was you defeated Tom that night!" He pleaded. Harry looked at him with indifference.

"No. You caused my family to nearly fall apart thanks to your so-called prophecy. It was through your actions and Severus Snape's loose lips and hatred of James Potter that brought Riddle to our doorstep. If it was not for you, Azalea and myself would've had a normal childhood. I would still be in Britain with my family, preparing my sister for her fifth year of Hogwarts. Instead. She is dead, and now you come crawling to me to save you all."

Even though they had wished they could've thought of something to say, James and Lily were stunned into silence upon seeing their son. However, when Snape's actions were spoken of, James couldn't help it when he turned to Dumbledore with fury in his eyes.

"Is what he said true Albus! Was it Snape that ran to You-Know-Who with the prophecy? You told us that it must've been Peter, and we believed it since he had already betrayed our home as Secret Keeper! Well?" He roared.

Albus sighed as a secret he had never wanted to get out was just revealed.

"Harry, I sincerely wished you hadn't done that. Severus made a mistake and has been paying for it ever since. He has my utmost..."

"Be silent, old man." The hissed words came from the now standing, towering, Potter heir.

Harry slowly moved down the steps and came to a stop a few feet away from Dumbledore.

"This is what is going to happen Albus. You and I are going to duel outside. You and I. No seconds. No rematch. No complaints afterwards. The loser will give into the demands of the winner, no matter what they are. To the stakes clear apart from that, if you should win I will return and take up the fight against Riddle. If I should win, however, you will make a magical vow to resign from all of your positions. Headmaster, Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump. Do we have an accord?"

Albus stared down at the man that was foot shorter than him and considered what he should do.

"Look at it this way Albus. Should I lose, that just means I am not strong enough to fight Riddle and you'll be able to train me or what-have-you to be able to do so. If I win on the other hand...well you'll see."

Albus knew he was making a deal with a devil but he had no other choice. Finally he reached a hand forward and Harry instantly took it. The two nodded and then Harry turned towards the hallway and began walking out. Albus followed him silently along with everyone else.

* * *

><p><em>How? How could he have so easily beaten me? And the wand...<em>

These were Albus' thoughts while he nursed his bruised ribs with his good hand. His left was a bloody sight to behold.

A few feet in front of him, with a wand in each hand, stood Harry.

"I believe that I have, Albus. For my Conquest, I take the Elder Wand.' Harry quirked a brow at the Headmaster. 'Don't look so surprised. I told you that I am a curios person. I make it my business to know _everything_."

Harry then turned to the gob-smacked group. He wondered what it was like to watch your hero, the man you believed to be infallible as well as unbeatable, taken down so easily. At least, Harry made it _look_ easy. He had his secrets, and they had no need to know how he had done what he did.

"Now, Albus. I believe it's time to state my demands.' Harry eyed the man who wore an expression of resignation on his face. 'You will resign from your positions as I have said. If Fudge had still been in office I would've allowed you to remain as Chief Warlock, unfortunately for you, he is not and there is no need for your meddling in a new system that works against corruption rather than furthers it. You shall nominate Filius Flitwick as your successor for the Headmaster position. This is no slight against you.' He had turned to Minerva who was simply staring at the preceding in shock. 'You are a fair woman, Mcgonagall. However if Hogwarts has a chance to be turned around for the better then someone of Flitwick's status is the best choice for Headmaster. Not to say he isn't qualified intellectually and magically for the position. Again, no offense is meant." Flitwick had nodded at this, he had instantly understood Harry's explanation and was okay with being a face for a new era.

"When the war is over, Albus, you will publicly announce your failings in keeping Hogwarts safe. You will announce how it was through your machinations that led Riddle to the Potter family's doorstep. You will reveal that you always had a suspicion that Riddle was never truly gone and that you planned on making Azalea some sort of heroine-martyr for the 'Greater Good'. You will apologize for all of your deceits, all of your mind-games, and for the life of Azalea Lilith Potter. You will then retire from the Wizarding World, never to return. Is this in anyway, misunderstood?"

Albus could only stare at the man before him. The words had truly just flew over him. He understood them, but he didn't hear them. Finally, he shakily rose to his feet and nodded his head.

"I understand. I will do as you have declared. So mote it be." With a flash of light, the binding spell took place.

Harry nodded as he pocketed his wands and clapped his hands once. A series of pops later, an veritable small army of House Elves appeared all around the group.

"Well then. I couldn't very well say I truly loved my sister if I didn't avenge her life. As for the rest of you. I don't care what you do as long as you don't get in my way. However, if you wish to help me then know this. I aim to kill. If you can't do the same then I'll stun you every time I see you and portkey you away. No Death Eater will survive this war, that's a promise."

Albus could only watch sadly as the majority of the Order quickly agreed to the declaration. James and Lily were at the forefront. While they kept their distance from their estranged son, knowing that it was too son for forgiveness, they hadn't wasted time in choosing their place in this war; right behind their son. Albus could never condone murder, even mercy killing was still murder in his eyes. Every life was precious, it wasn't for mere men to decide who should have it and who shouldn't. That was up to the Higher Power to decide. Albus wouldn't say anything though, he had no part in this war any longer. Fawkes had been distant for a while since the beginning of the Tri-Wizard Tournament and he believed the legendary bird would soon leave him. The Elder Wand had been championed away from him and had a new master now. Albus was no just an old man with a greater than average skill in magic.

He knew that Harry was referring to him when the man said that those who weren't going to kill were to stay out of the way. Albus supposed he was okay with that. He'd support the Order from the sidelines, doing what he could until Tom was defea...killed. He sighed.

"When did everything change?"

**This is my, quickly-written, version of the _Wrong Boy-Who-Lived_. Not sure what else to say about it. It was just what came to me.**

**To go in-depth, I believe that Harry would eventually forgive his parents for whatever it is that he held against them. Like it was stated, they didn't mistreat him. They just neglected him emotionally. He was well-fed as any child should be, he was clothed and when he needed money he got it. It's my experience that when one is confronted by unpleasantness, they busy themselves with something to try to forget about it. Harry "forgets" about it in books.  
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**To picture Harry's little hideaway, you'd have to have seen Konjiki no Gash Bell. Professor Riddle once lived in a mansion and the room he kept all his books in is what I pictured for Harry.  
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**I'm sure I probably left a plot-hole here and there, if so, let me know.  
><strong>


	14. The Love, He Knows Not

"Harry. Time to wake up." A soft voiced spoke through the door. The two women outside the room heard a groan and then stirring come from within. Petunia Dursley looked on at the door for a few moments before turning to her guest with a polite smile.

"He's like this sometimes. I usually make sure he's up no later than eight in the morning but...well, the family had such a late night yesterday."

Minerva McGonagall, deputy headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, nodded stiffly. Despite her stern demeanour, she did have a hint of a smile as she recalled another person by the name of Potter who also had troubles waking up on time during his years at Hogwarts. She was also a bit wary ever since stepping foot into the Dursley household. No sooner had she stepped in, a chill seem to settle over. Petunia had been the one to answer the door and not five minutes after introducing her husband Vernon and son Dudley, the two Dursley men had quickly left the house leaving the witch alone with the former Evans woman. Petunia had fought Albus Dumbledore, her employer and oldest friend, tooth and nail to be the one to retrieve young Harry from his relatives to take him to Diagon Alley.

_'The nerve of that man, suggesting Rubeus of all all people. A kind soul he may be, but to be given the task of introducing the wizarding world to a boy who has, up to this point, probably never believed in magic would be a disaster in the making.'_

The witch was brought out of her thoughts by the slamming of the door downstairs. A quick look between the two woman and an apologetic smile from Petunia who mouthed "Vernon" was enough to have the women remain in silence and return to waiting for Harry to exit his room. If not for all her years as an educator, Minerva might have lost her patience after the first five minutes. It was just as this thought flitted through her mind that the door creaked open.

Minerva now had her first glimpse of Harry James Potter in almost ten years. She wasn't sure if he was exactly as she expected him to be or if he wasn't, he was just there. He was just Harry.

He was the correct height for his age and was as fit as one would expect him to be. His skin was pale that could've been attributed to his Potter genes or perhaps he wasn't one to go outside much. She hoped it was at least his decision if it was the latter, she didn't know how she would react if the boy was forced to things he did not want to do. Coming back to her sense the witch took a step forward.

"Hello Harry, my name is Minerva McGonagall. You may recall my name as the person who sent you your Hogwarts letter. I am here to take you to Diagon Alley to make your school purchases."

Harry nodded slightly, quickly glancing up towards his aunt, this action caused some of his hair to fall forward over his ear, where it had been tucked back, and down past his chin. It was then that Minerva realized that the young boy had longer hair than she had first thought, she also recalled that neither James nor Lily had hair that dark. Another startling feature was how...alive...Harry's eyes seemed to be. She couldn't think of another word for it, his eyes didn't quite glow, but against his pale skin and dark hair, they were like lights in the dark.

"Hello, Professor McGongall." The young child spoke softly as he slowly inched towards his aunt until his grasping hand latched on to her dress and the rest of his body quickly followed until he was half-hidden from view. Petunia smiled indulgently down at her nephew before gently guiding out from behind her and then stepped behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"I apologize Professor, you see, Harry has never been an outgoing person. I have tried everything to make sure he wants for nothing, but...' The woman trailed off when Harry fidgeted but a gentle but firm hand from his aunt stopped him. 'those first few years with us were not the best. In fact, it wasn't until his seventh birthday that things began to settle down and I was able to finally reach him." Petunia smiled lovingly down at the boy and Minerva found that any reservations she may have had against the sister of Lily Evans Potter were nearly nonexistant.

"I understand perfectly Mrs. Dursley. The nightmares the poor child must've had due to...well, _that_ night. I can only imagine what he went through." As the two continued speaking they made their way down the stairs, Harry following along between them. Stopping in front of the door and opening it for them, Petunia glanced towards the living room where Vernon and Dudley were watching t.v.

"Yes. However, his nightmare ended very quickly once I was able to get to him. I vowed that day, that nothing bad would ever happen to Harry again.' Vernon, who had looked over at Petunia quickly looked away uncomfortably. 'Surely you'll help me keep my vow, Professor?"

Minerva, who hadn't seen the exchange between the Dursleys, nodded emphatically. "I'll personally see to it, moreso if he ends up Sorted into my House at Hogwarts. I had wished to take Harry in after his parents...well, needless to say, I hadn't been allowed to. You, being his last blood-relative, were the one chosen in the end." The Transfiguration professor watched as Harry walked out of this house and down to the middle of the path.

"Yet, even I know it was specifically stated that Harry James Potter was to never step foot in the Dursley home should anything happen to Lily and James." Came the cold response from behind her. Startled, Minerva spun around to face Petunia. The woman's face seemed to have lost all warmth, once-pale eyes now darkened. The very inside of the house seemed to have also darkened despite the light that was pouring in from the open door.

"I beg your pardon." Minerva managed after regaining her bearings. Petunia seemed to have such an overbearing presence now, nothing like the inviting, gracefulness, that she had displayed when the witch had first arrived. As sudden as it all happened, it was over. Petunia was slowly closing the door. Dark eyes locked on Minervas.

"Remember your promise, Professor. Protect Harry." Then the door was closed and Minerva was left there staring in shock. A tug at her sleeve brought her attention towards her side where young Harry was looking up at her. Quickly forcing her composure back in place, the witch took Harry's hand in her own and guided him to the sidewalk where she raised a hand; her thumb stuck-out. Instantly a double-decker bus appeared, screeching to a halt in front of them.

"Harry, this is the Knight Bus. As long as you have magical blood within you, all you need do is to stick out your thumb and the bus will arrive and take you wherever you wish to go. Now, let us board, we have a long day ahead of us." With that, and a slight nudge, the dark-haired boy stepped onto the bus and quickly found a seat near the back. As soon as he took a seat, he moved towards the window and looked out towards his relative's home. Minerva, taking a seat next to him, followed his gaze and felt something cold descend upon her. For there, staring out the window back at them, was Petunia. She was smiling as she looked back at Harry with the same warmth as when he exited his room. Harry then turned back to Minerva with a smile before looking forward. Minerva had returned the smile before looking back at the house and she felt her insides chill again, Petunia was no longer smiling. She was staring, accusingly, at Minerva. Then, she was gone.

Minerva wasn't sure, but years later, she could say that this day was when everything changed.

* * *

><p>Vernon flexed his fingers instinctively as Petunia walked away from the window and past him towards the kitchen. Slowly, he stood up and moved towards the coat-rack. He didn't turn around as he quickly threw on his coat and hat and began searching his pockets for his keys.<p>

"Uh, I'll just be leaving for work now. Dudders has already left to play with his friends so..." A sudden noise caught his full attention and he stiffened. The noise had been sharp and sudden; the jiggling of keys. It should've been an innocent sound, but it came off as mocking; daring. The next sound, was anything but. A creaking noise, followed by the popping of bones. Then, the guttural subdued moan. He had heard it all before, countless times. It was never easier after that first time, it was never something he could get used to.

Slowly, but surely, he turned around and looked towards the noise and all the blood seemed to withdraw from his skin.

Neck bent at an unnatural angle. Brown, well-kept curly hair; dead and limp against chalk-white skin. Empty black voids glaring back through empty eye-sockets. Bloody clothing that was more akin to rags hung from the skeletal frame. Teeth rotted or missing; mouth open and releasing that horrible sound. Hands outstretched towards him.

What was left of Petunia Dursley stood there in the middle of the living room. _That_ ghoul had taken over long ago and the Dursleys paid for the pain they had put young Harry through. _He _had paid for it most of all with the loss of his wife, the loss of control in his own home, and the fear he constantly lived in.

Shivering in fear as the figure began to stagger forward, he reached behind him and grabbed a hold of the doorknob, morbid-curiousity unable to allow him to take his eyes off the grotesque remains of his dear wife. Yanking the door open he turned to run out of the house when the figure got closer but found his path blocked and his jaw dropped. There, in almost the same condition as his wife's body, was none-other than Dudley. Vernon couldn't even manage a scream before the dead boy grabbed a hold of him and Vernon found himself dragged up the stairs at a rate of speed that he knew was not possible. He did manage to scream when he was pulled into his and Petunia's bedroom and he looked up towards the door where Petunia was standing. His eyes shrunk in fear when the normally pale eyes suddenly glowed green.

"No! I've been good! I haven't so much as yelled at him! I haven't touched your freak of a s..." The door slammed shut and Vernon only managed half a scream before a meaty thud silenced him. The sounds of ripping and tearing came next and then all was quiet.

To all others on Privet Drive, all was as it should be. A quiet Saturday morning, nothing at all out of place.


	15. One Big Happy? Family

He had been watching her for nearly a month now, as per his orders. The woman in the house below had once been a kunoichi of Konoha, that was almost thirteen years ago. After that, the woman left Konoha, she officially retired from active service. The Sandaime eventually allowed it on the condition that the woman would never again act as a kunoichi in any situation other than defending her life.

Earlier today, the woman was finally outed as having broken that condition. She was hiring herself out as a mercenary, doing odd jobs here and there. Specifically, she was donning shinobi attire and using her Konoha-trained skills to perform these jobs. This was unacceptable. He had his orders.

He had waited for her to go to town that evening, as she always did. No sooner had she left did the young ANBU drop down and enter the modest-sized house. The woman's husband, an average-looking blacksmith, didn't even sense his presence before the operative knocked him unconscious. The young child, a boy of perhaps four years of age, succumbed to a genjutsu easily enough. He tied the two males together, back to back, and used ninja-wire to suspend them from the ceiling. It would be the first sight the woman would see when she returned. He had then waited.

She returned in the same amount of time she always had, exactly fifteen minutes after leaving. The woman walked into the house, announcing her return as usual, and when no response came she finally looked up and gasped at seeing her spouse and child hanging in the middle of the room. So distraught and caught off-guard was she that the operative was instantly behind her and a knife-edged chop to the back of the neck blackened the world of the former Konoha kunoichi, without so much as a struggle.

He shook his head. He had his orders.

* * *

><p>Groggily, she opened her eyes and began to struggle in her binds when the attempt to raise a hand to her head failed, bringing her memory back online. A slight cough gained her attention and she snapped her head towards the noise. Her eyes widened in surprise before narrowing in fury at the sight of the Konoha ANBU.<p>

"What are you doing here!? Why have you attacked my family!?" She demanded to know.

"I believe the appropriate question is, 'Why have you broken the condition placed upon you by Sandaime Hokage-sama?'" The operative replied bringing Kushina up short. She cursed when she realized what this was, though the heaviness of the situation hadn't yet dawned on her.

"It was just for some extra money! My husband hasn't been getting a lot of jobs lately, we have to provide for our son!" She quickly tried to explain; much to her chagrin the operative didn't seem to be moved at all by her family's plight.

"Your _husband?' _He finally spoke, looking towards the man and boy who were still unconscious. 'I was to understand that your husband was dead. As was your child." The words that brought back the memories of her first family were like ice-water to Kushina. Her head lowered in rememberance and she remained silent before speaking again.

"My first husband died, for Konoha. You know the story of the Yondaime so I wont repeat it. My...first son, he...he died too. I moved on." Her voice was barely above a whisper but it still echoed through-out the room.

The operative turned towards a nearby counter top and reached up and took hold of his mask. The woman watched in curiousity as the ANBU removed his mask and then shook out his hair. Her eyes widened a bit at the sight of it, the golden, spiky hair that had only ever belonged to one person.

"Hokage-sama gave me permission to reveal myself before completing my mission. Uzumaki Kushina-san. He said I might gain some closure." At this, the man turned around and Kushina gasped.

"Minato-koi!" She exclaimed but frowned soon after when the man shook his head and chuckled lowly.

"No. I am not my father, though it's surprising you even remember his name, given how quickly you moved on after his death." The operative simply stared down at the bound redhead and watched as a dozen emotions flew through her eyes.

"Na-Naruto?...Sochi-kun?" She finally stuttered out.

"_Son_? You actually call me that? Thirteen years, ten of which you knew about me and had every opportunity to return to Konoha and be there for me, but you can still call me son? Imagine that." Naruto reached over his left shoulder and withdrew his ninja-to, he eyed the blade carefully as he gave it a few test swings.

"I was told you were dead!" Kushina screamed at him, rousing her husband from his unconsciousness. Upon opening his eyes and seeing the situation for what it was, he quickly began yelling at the blonde man in his home. Naruto paid no attention.

"I understand that for the first two years, you believed me to be dead. However, Hokage-sama found you. He told you I was still alive, and that I was all alone in Konoha. You didn't believe him." Naruto spoke over Kushina's husband's yelling and outrage.

"I...I couldn't take the chance that he was just trying to get me back to the village. That it was just a trick to make me come back so I could be a kunoichi again." She tried.  
>Naruto appeared to not believe it, as he shook his head.<p>

"Whether it was a trick or not. He's your Kage. His orders are yours to follow. But you knew how he is, you know he wouldn't have tried such an underhanded tactic to get you to return. He would've bluntly told you to return and that would've been that. No. Instead you hid away. Then you found this man and moved on. Replaced my father with some common civilian. Replaced me with a new son." Naruto laid the short-sword on the counter and opened up his supply pouch and began pulling out a few items that he laid out on the counter as well.

Kushina was shaking her head in denial while her husband had grown quiet after hearing the teen's words. Naruto remained aloof as he spoke again.

"You know, before Hokage-sama took me in for training, I use to live on the street. Oh sure, I lived in the orphanage for a time, but the matron couldn't stand having the little _demon-boy_ living under her roof. So she kicked me out. Imagine that, if you will, a three year old boy living on the streets of Konoha. Rummaging through trash-cans for food; stealing what I could to sell for money; having to deal with the belligerent drunks here and there. Heh, caught a beating every now and then from this gang of academy kids whenever I ran across them."

Naruto pulled out some more ninja-wire and began attaching an end to the ring of one of his kunai. Kushina was openly weeping now at the play-by-play of Naruto's life. Her husband had finally had enough of listening and decided to get his own answers.

"Just who are you kid?! What the hell does all this have to do with Kasumi-chan!? Why have you attacked my family!?" He yelled out, to both his and Kushina's dismay, the young boy woke and once he realized he was tied up began screaming in fear. Naruto had moved so fast that Kushina's eyes couldn't keep up. She was able to see him when he reappeared right in front of her son and her eyes widened in horror as she screamed out "NO!" when Naruto's fist lashed out and slammed into the boy's face. The tell-tale sound of broken bone filled the air and the boy's screaming had been forcibly dulled down to muffled whimpering.

"There now!' The blonde exclaimed cheerfully. 'Now what was this about a _Kasumi-chan_? Surely my _mother_ told you the truth?" Naruto questioned, stepping in front of the blacksmith and talking as if he hadn't just broken the man's son's jaw. Naruto then pointed at the pale-faced redhead.

"That there, is Uzumaki Kushina. My birth mother. Before that, she was a kunoichi of Konoha. She was also the second jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune." Naruto revealed; the last part had caught even Kushina by surprise.

"Didn't think I wouldn't be told about that Kushina-san?" Naruto shook his head as he moved towards the counter and picked up the kunai and ninja-wire. He faced Kushina's husband and began to twirl the kunai with the wire, soon enough it was just a blurred arc at his side. Suddenly he launched the kunai forward and both Kushina and her husband flinched though they both breathed a sigh of relief when the kunai had narrowly missed the man's right ear.

"So, Kushina-san. Why the big secret? Why not tell your civvie-husband that there was someone else before him? That your first love gave his life to save his village, that your first son was alive and well and you basically abandoned him?" Naruto asked, the kunai once again spinning.

Kushina cried as her first-born son launched the kunai again, and once again missed her husband. Why was all this happening? Why now?

"Why are you doing this!? Why are you acting this way?! Even if you hated me for leaving you in Konoha, why would you put us through this?!" This caught Naruto's attention and the kunai faltered and fell to the ground. The blonde quirked a brow at her before moving towards her husband. Kushina wasn't even able to get a word out when Naruto reached up with both hands, grabbed a hold of her husband's head, and with a sharp jerk, broke the man's neck. Kushina screamed out her lover's name and was once again trying to get out of her bonds.

"Why? Well, for one, I was trained to eliminate all of my emotions. However, for this mission, Hokage-sama allowed me to act as I wanted. _To let it all out_, so to speak. As for why I'm doing this? Well I already told you. You broke the condition, Hokage-sama told you what would happen if you should ever do that." With that, Naruto spun the two bound males around until he was facing Kushina's second son, Naruto's own half-brother.

Kushina's eyes widened in realization and she began shaking her head back and forth.

"Please, no! No, don't do this! Not him! Not my son!" Naruto, who had the kunai back in his hand turned towards her.

"Pick, then."

"Wha...what?"

"Pick. Who will it be. Your first born son, whom you abandoned? Or the second born son, whom you've lied through omission to since his birth? Who lives, who dies?"

Kushina couldn't believe what she was hearing. Naruto wanted her to pick which one of her sons was to die. Her jaw dropped when Naruto placed a second kunai to his own neck while placing the first to her second born.

"It's quite easy Kushina. All you have to do is say a name, and that son will die. Did you know I've been watching you this past month? I've seen you play with my little half-brother here. Laughing with him, tickling him, teaching him things, tucking him in at night and reading him bedtime stories. I've watched you with your husband. Laughing, hugging, walking around through the forest, making love." Kushina flushed in embarassment.

"How...how could you watch your own mother do that kind of thing! It's not right! Have you no shame?" She tried to sound disgusted but the shaking of her voice didn't help.

"What? It's not as if I see you as my mother. You were never there for me after all, you are simply the woman who brought me into this world. Though, to put you at ease, I derived no satisfaction in seeing you perform such carnal acts. Anyhow, you have a decision to make. Your oldest, or your youngest."

Kushina lowered her head, and closed her eyes. She knew she had to make a decision, and she could only take slight comfort in the fact that Naruto had made it easier on her. Giving a silent prayer, she opened her mouth and gave her reply.

"I choose..." "Too late!" The Uzumaki woman's head jerked up and she could only watch in horror as her youngest son's neck was sliced open. She then screamed as the blood gushed out, her youngest was gasping for air that would not come, and soon the gasping slowed to a stop and then all was quiet except for Kushina's own sorrowful voice.

"And then, there was one." Kushina didn't have the strength to even oppose him any more, she simply sat there staring at her youngest son's cooling corpse. She didn't so much as make a sound as her head was jerked up by the hand that had taken a fistful of her hair.

"I'll let you know a little something, before you die. Kushina-san." Her soon-to-be executioner murmured next to her ear.

"Uzumaki Naruto died two years ago, when the Sandaime finally told him the truth about his mother.' Kushina's eyes widened at that and she slowly craned her neck to look at the blonde holding her captive. 'His good heart finally gave in to the darkness and that's where I took over. All the harshness of his life that he endured, all the pain and suffering. Finding out he had the Kyuubi sealed inside him. Everything and anything, he always just suppressed it and put on a big old fake smile, pretending nothing bothered him. But then you...hehehe."

The blonde slammed Kushina's head forward, her face smashed against the floor. She was the yanked back to a kneeling position and he was once again speaking in her ear.

"He couldn't take it anymore. He tried to kill himself. He just wanted the pain to end, so I told him that I would do him a favor. I would take his place, and he would die. He didn't even ask what the catch was. He just agreed." Kushina's face was suddenly introduced to a fist and then a knee before the voice came back.

"You were so quick to abandon him. So quick to move on. So quick to judge him when he finally appeared to _get his revenge_. Just know, that this is all because of you. Minato died because of you. Kyuubi was sealed inside your first-born because of you. Naruto lived through hell because of you. Naruto died because of you. Your new husband and second-born died because of you. And now, you die...because of you."

* * *

><p>The young ANBU operative stood atop the highest tree branch and watched as the house below was enveloped in flames. After a moment, he pulled out a small notepad and opened it to the first page. There, written in fine black ink, was a list of names. Three of the names were already crossed out.<p>

"Uzumaki. Kushina. Check. Now, I guess I better get some light gear, Kiri is kinda humid this time of year. Don't worry though Auntie Mei. Your nephew is coming for a visit."

* * *

><p><strong>This...is a bit more than dark. At first it was just a response to the many fics out there where Kushina is alive and she leaves Naruto behind for whatever reason. <strong>

**The one thing I hate is how those kind of fics seldom get to the inevitable confrontation between mother and son. Either they are abandoned or they just delay it forever.  
><strong>


	16. Army of Two

"Mmm...hehe. That's right Hime-chan, just like that...yea...hehe" Uzumaki Naruto, fifteen year old academy student, mumbled happily in his sleep as he groped the pillow that he was hugging tightly against his chest. After a few more moments of lecherous sleep-talk, the young blonde rolled over on his back and his mouth opened in a loud snore...which was quickly drowned, literally, by a bucket of water that splashed into his face.

Naruto coughed and choked on the water as he began frantically clawing the air and rolled over on the bed until he fell off and hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Dammit Naruto-kun! I've been trying to wake you up for the last twenty minutes! You're going to be late getting to the academy, and your brother is going to be late as well since he's outside waiting for you!" Came the exasperated voice of the most important woman in Naruto's life.

"Aww Kaa-chan! I could've been ready and at the academy in less than a minute! Why'd you have to wake me up so early?' Naruto grumbled as he pushed himself off the ground and groggily walked over to his closet where he began to dig around for something to wear. 'I was having such a great dream too." He mumbled, though not low enough. The bucket his mother had used to bring in the water sailed through the room and smashed into the back of his head causing him to crash into the closet.

"What the fuck?!" He yelled out from under a pile of clothes that had fallen from their hangers.

"Get dressed. Brush your teeth. Wash your face, and _get_ to class!" His mother growled out, standing above him in a pose that all children recognized as the infamous 'Mother-of-Doom' stance.

Naruto looked up, after pulling a rather smelly shirt off his head, at his mom and chuckled. His mom was quite the looker, and he had no shame in admitting that- in his mind at least -black silky hair, dark eyes that sparkled with mirth even if her impassive face seemed otherwise; pale, soft skin and a body that many in the village of Konoha would kill to catch a glimpse at in something other than her everyday house-wife outfit. Yes, Uchiha Mikoto was quite the woman.

"Alright, alright. I'll be ready in three minutes; tops!" Mikoto narrowed her eyes at her youngest, adopted, son for a few moments before nodding her head and marching out of his room, closing the door behind her.

As Naruto quickly put together an outfit, beige baggy pants; a white muscle shirt with a black, unbuttoned, vest over it; black military-style boots and finally, a pair of black sunglasses. He knew it was impractical, especially the boots, but he didn't care. '_I have to look good for the girls, after all_.'

As he exited his room and headed towards the restroom he briefly thought over how he had come to call the ever-beautiful Uchiha Mikoto, "mother".

He had heard the stories many times in the past, especially when he was younger. His birth-mother, Uzumaki Kushina, had died the day he was born. Both she and his father, actually; apparently a large claw, from a hundred-foot-tall bijuu, through the chest would do that to you. Well, his father -Namikaze Minato- had died more from the seal he had used to put the Kyuubi inside of his newborn child, but that was neither here nor there. Honestly, Naruto didn't have an opinion on his parents; he thanked them for bringing him into the world but that was about it, he certainly wasn't going to thank them for the spastic beast currently inside of his gut...or head...or wherever it actually was inside his body.

Anyway, his mother and Uchiha Mikoto had been real close friends since their genin days and they had, at some point, made one of those promises you read about in novels or see in movies where they vowed to look after the other's children if anything was to happen to them. The day after the sealing of the Kyuubi, Uchiha Mikoto had promptly stormed a council meeting in which the fate of young Uzumaki Naruto was being decided. She didn't speak a word; she simply walked up to the Sandaime Hokage, whom was holding the newborn, and took the babe from his arms. She then walked to the doors before stopping and looking back over her shoulder at the council.

"_If _anyone_ tries to argue with me, my _right_, to watch over my dead friend's son...__I'll kill them._" With that, she left the building. An hour later her husband returned from that same meeting and showed her the adoption papers that proclaimed Naruto as her son. It was a unanimous decision by the council.

Naruto smirked, his mom was a total bad-ass. He then frowned, it sometimes sucked that she was his mom because he couldn't perv on her, at least not openly.

'_Dammit._'

* * *

><p>Naruto stepped out of the Uchiha Clan Head's estate and stepped out onto the main street of the Uchiha compound. He instantly saw his brother and casually made his way over.<p>

"Morning bro, been waiting long?" He asked cheerfully.

Uchiha Sasuke, wearing a pair of black slacks and the traditional Uchiha blue-collared shirt with the clan symbol on the back, stared back at him impassively. Naruto slumped with a groan.

"Aw c'mon! It's too early in the morning for your crazy antics." He tried. Sasuke blinked as he turned away and jumped towards the nearest roof, Naruto quickly following after.

"What if I said I had a _very_ sexy dream about Ino-chan?"

"..." The duo, that had been roof hopping, landed on the divider-wall of the compound and jumped down to the ground below.

"What if I said that her mom was in the dream too?"

"..." They had taken to running through the village, jumping over civilians; carriages; onto and off walls; over roofs, and through a few trees.

"What if I said they were helping me sow my oats, so-to-speak, in the dream?"

"..." They had arrived inside the academy grounds and looked up to see students filing inside, they had made it just in time.

"What if I said that this morning, when Kaa-chan woke me up, I was still dreaming and kissed her full on the mouth?"

Sasuke tripped and turned to Naruto in shock and disbelief, which quickly turned to anger when Naruto began laughing and waving a hand dismissively.

"Ah, I was just messing with ya; you know I would never do that...at least not with dad around." Naruto laughed again and ducked out of the way when a kick sliced through the air where his head had just been. Still laughing, he quickly moved inside the building.

As Sasuke entered through the double doors he saw Naruto waiting for him, leaning against a wall just five feet into the building. Naruto's previous behaviour was absent and now he wore a bored look on his face. The young Uchiha shook his head, sighing internally, at his brother. Ever since they were younger, Naruto had always been an energetic person. He was loud, obnoxious, rude and easily the most aggravating person anyone could ever meet; then there was the other side of Naruto. It was the cold side of the blonde. It was like a light switch; while 'on', Naruto was bright and cheery. When it was 'off' Naruto became someone else.

It was only in recent months that Naruto had gained some sort of middle-ground, not that anyone truly noticed. No one outside the clan had ever seen Naruto's 'off' side. They attributed his 'calm' side as just him growing up and maturing. The girls seemed to love it, at least. Then again, they had also grown to love his 'on' side as well.

By now the brothers were walking side-by-side down the hallway. Despite their mother's persistence in their being present at the academy, they were both soon-to-be graduating students and, as they were in the last semester of the year, they had joined the tutoring program for extra-credit on their shinobi profiles. The extra-credit really didn't do anything for you if you were going to be a front-line shinobi but for other parts of the military, that credit could really help sway a person's mind during recruitment.

The brother would sometimes sit in a class, go over basics, or just help out one of the instructors, sometimes even take over a class for an absent instructor, but mostly they just monitored the halls. They had even formed a little group within the program; the members were all hand-picked by them as well. In fact, here comes one of their female members now.

"Sasuke-kun! Naruto-kun! Good morning!' Came the bright voice that belonged to none-other-than Haruno Sakura. The pink-haired girl had been a friend to both boys for as long as any of the three could remember. It was mostly because of this friendship that Sakura hadn't turned out like many of the other girls in the academy by becoming a fan-girl to either Sasuke or Naruto. Though, she admittedly would love the chance to date either boy even if she couldn't decide which one. Sakura was also one of the smartest students in the academy, only being beaten by Sasuke, with Naruto at a very close third place.

Naruto grinned and pulled the girl into a hug, swinging her in a circle before putting her back on her feet. "Morning Sakura-chan! What's the word?" Even with the hug and spin, Naruto had kept pace with Sasuke and Sakura had been forced to catch up after regaining her balance.

'_Every day, like clock-work._' The Uchiha thought absently. Sakura meanwhile was trying to fight the blush on her face down as she busied herself with digging out a small note-pad from her the small pouch tied to her belt. She brought the note-pad up to her face to further hide her blush as she began reading to herself. Naruto simply smiled, not even paying attention to the girl as he walked with his hands behind his head. After a moment Sakura looked up, the blush finally gone.

"Oh, well you guys were right about Rock Lee! He _was _picked up as a genin after all. Might Guy, a taijutsu-specialist jounin, took Rock Lee as his apprentice.' When Sakura saw the lack of reaction from Sasuke and the slight narrowing of the eyes from Naruto she quickly continued reading over her notes. 'But! Rock-san has a stipulation against him that he cannot be promoted past the rank of genin and he can only go on missions outside the village as long as there is no less than: one jounin, two chunin, and any number of genin. It doesn't matter how strong Rock-san becomes under Might-san, as long as he is unable to mold chakra outside of his body to disable a genjutsu and use a basic healing jutsu, he will have this stipulation on him."

Sasuke remained emotionless and Naruto seemed to relax, to which Sakura breathed out a sigh of relief. She was one of the few outside of the Uchiha clan that knew Sasuke and Naruto as well as she did, she had gotten to a point where she could read through Sasuke's emotionless looks and impassiveness, even his silence. Naruto, she could see through him just as easily, though he did have the habit of misdirecting her on purpose just to mess with her head but that was just the way he was and she more than welcomed his teasing, it just meant he was in a good mood.

The trio had just arrived at their office, which was located on the third floor of the academy in the southwest corner of the building, when Sasuke stopped and looked off into space. Naruto frowned and closed his eyes; spreading out his senses, Sakura quickly followed suit. Sasuke sighed.

"I have something to take care of. Naruto, call a meeting. Sakura...good morning." Naruto shrugged while Sakura sweat-dropped a that belated greeting as Sasuke moved down the hallway and vanished around a corner.

"So...Sakura-chan; we're going to be all alone in the office until he gets back, or the others show up, what say you and I have some _fun_?" A punch to the back of the head by a heavily blushing pinkette was his answer and he watched as his friend rushed into the office and disappeared inside. He chuckled as he followed her inside, he loved messing with her.

* * *

><p>Uchiha Itachi stood across the field from his enemy. He stood calm, confident, and ready. His opponent was gritting his teeth in obvious anger, fists clenched at his sides.<p>

"Take back what you said!" His foe demanded. Itachi didn't so much as roll his eyes, he was better than that.

"How foolish of you, to believe you have any power to demand anything of me." He responded. Even though he was confident, his opponent was a Sarutobi and he wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating him. After all, Sarutobi Hiruzen was the 'God of Shinobi' and that kind of power has to run in the blood. By that logic, his opponent could be just as strong, or could be someday.

"Why you bas...uh...I mean...this isn't over yet!" With that, his foe left. Itachi had seen the Sarutobi's eyes widen in, first, surprise and then in fear. Looking out of the corner of his eye he launched himself forward and then spun mid-air, launching two kunai at the unseen newcomer behind him as he did so. Itachi watched with wide-eyes as the kunai hit the newcomer right in the chest before falling to the ground.

"Blunted-kunai. Honestly, one would think you'd try a jutsu if you were going to be carrying around such insufficient weaponry, Itachi."

The Uchiha looked up from the fallen kunai to the person they had struck. He had recognized the voice immediately, it couldn't be anyone else that had caught him so off-guard. Gulping slightly, he raised his eyes and locked onto those of the person standing across from him, the ten year old mustered all his courage before speaking.

"Sasuke-Oniisama."

* * *

><p><strong>Literally, this came to me while I was lying down trying to go to sleep. I had thought of something almost similar to this before, where Naruto and Sasuke are really good friends and they "run things" so-to-speak. I decided to take a page out of the relationship between <strong>**Takayanagi Mitsuomi** **and Tawara Bunshichi from Tenjou Tenge. Sasuke being the former and Naruto being the latter.**

**As I was thinking about it, I thought of how it would be fun to lead the reader on in the first scene, making him/her think that it's Kushina waking Naruto up. Instead I decided to go with Naruto being adopted by Mikoto.  
><strong>

**The Uchiha clan is still around, though they don't play any major part in the story, they are about as important as the Hyuuga clan.  
><strong>

**There was no attempted coup.  
><strong>

**Naruto is still a jinchuuriki, but because of Mikoto, and the Uchiha clan's backing, he doesn't catch crap from the villagers. Also, his personality is a bit different. He's strong, and extremely confident in his abilities. He's also a bit of a playboy, which is why the boys are 15. Decided that the age-limit needed to be up'd. The academy accepts applicants at the age of ten. The students then spend 5 years, no exceptions, in the academy learning everything they need to know. At 15 they test to become genin.  
><strong>

**Sasuke isn't emo or anything, nor is he strictly canon, he's just a stereotypical Uchiha, though he's stronger than most for his age. He's also the clan heir, so a lot is expected of him which shapes his personality. He's not all arrogant either, none of that "I'm an Uchiha! The Elite! Give me all the powers of the world!"  
><strong>

**Surprise! Itachi isn't the eldest, or a traitor. He isn't canon-Sasuke either.  
><strong>

**So, what's the verdict?  
><strong>

**C.D the XPG!  
><strong>


	17. Master Shinobi

**Was watching Hyakka Hyoran's newest episode (season 2 started recently) and I imagined a similar situation happening in Naruto! Like in Hyakka Hyoran where there are certain samurai who are capable of becoming Master Samurai through various means, so can certain shinobi. Naruto is one of these shinobi. I have not yet created his origins. Whether he's a time-traveler or is simply not the Naruto that was born to Minato and Kushina. **

* * *

><p>Konohagakure no Sato. The Village Hidden in the Leaves. It was also known as the "greatest" of the Great Five Villages.<p>

A figure standing ten yards from the village's main gates snorted at these thoughts. During the shinobi wars, before the forming of the villages, the warriors who graced the battlegrounds with their mere presence could be considered god-like compared to the softened "shinobi" of today.

This was his thirteenth stop, and he had to wonder if that was a stroke of good luck for him or bad. He was also well aware that Konoha was probably already aware of his reputation.

The redheaded man, who had gone to nearly each and every shinobi village in the Elemental Nations and had challenged their leaders and strongest warriors to a fight. He had defeated everyone that had been put before him.

He had started small, with villages like Kusagakure and Takigakure. Not finding any true challenges there he had gone to Sunagakure, Konoha's main ally, and challenged the Sandaime Kazekage.

Even with his Magnet Release, the Sandaime was defeated practically effortlessly. Afterwards, his son (who was primed to become the Yondaime Kazekage in the near future) was defeated as well, faster than his father had been.

It had surprised the village when Akasuna no Sasori, a notorious puppet-master with questionable goals for his self-proclaimed "art" had given the stranger quite the challenge and had in fact lasted longer than the Kazekage and his son put together.

The stranger had then congratulated Sasori, after defeating him, and had praised his fellow redhead's skills.

His next stop had been in Kirigakure where the stranger gained wide-spread renown when he defeated the Mizukage, Yagura, who was a publicly known jinchuuriki. Even after unleashing his bijuu's yokai against the stranger, Yagura had found himself face-first in the ground while he felt the Yonbi's power leaving him thanks to the seal that was now stamped into the back of his head.

The stranger had then left the village without a word, leaving a –now- clearheaded Mizukage in his wake.

Kumogakure had welcomed the stranger as soon as he arrived at their gates. The Sandaime Raikage had initiated their talks with offers for the redhead to join Kumo, suggesting that the man would be able to have more than one wife (to spread his supposed bloodline), a spot on the council as a clan head, instant Elite-status and more.

The stranger flat-out refused and requested the Sandaime present himself and his strongest to fight him.

Before the eyes of nearly the entire Kumo populace, the Sandaime was felled as his lightning armor was punctured through as if it was naught but paper. Immediately after, A and Killer Bee, an infamous shinobi team, had attacked the redhead in earnest and, though no official statement had been made on the fight, were defeated just as well. Though it's said they pushed the redhead to his limits, forcing him to reveal more of his arsenal.

In Iwa, it was much the same, though the Tsuchikage did not fight.

It was in Amegakure that the redhead's renown was once again increased when he defeated and slew Hanzo. The official story was that the impressive warrior had arrived upon the scene of Hanzo ordering his troops to murder a group of civilians, most of which were women and children. The young warrior appeared between the two groups and challenged Hanzo for the lives of the civilians.

In short order, in reaching Hanzo, the warrior had decimated Hanzo's men with a wide-spread wind technique that had them falling in pieces. He had then proceeded to beat Hanzo into submissions and ended the man's tyranny via decapitation.

Hanzo's head was currently displayed for all to see atop the largest building in Ame.

Now, the redhead stood before Konoha.

"Well, no time like the present. It's time to cut the arrogance of this village in half." With those cryptic words, the redhead released his hold on his chakra and allowed it to flare outwards over the village.

In short order, the teen found himself face-to-face with the Legendary God of Shinobi himself, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

At his sides were the man's teammates from their genin days.

Behind them stood the Sannin, and behind them stood nearly every shinobi of note that Konoha had to offer.

The teen shook his head in disappointment even as his chakra flared to the sides rendering the hidden ANBU teams unconscious, their bodies falling for all to see out of the trees.

"While I applaud your quick response and attempt to either capture or kill me without so much as a word, I can only shake my head for two reasons.' He started without preamble.

The shinobi had all tensed at how quickly and effortlessly nearly two dozen of the village's best were taken out of a fight that hadn't even begun yet.

'For one, nearly all of your best are here before me. What if I had others with me that were hoping for such a response and were not pilfering your village's top secrets as well as executing your top civilian heads as well as taking out as many clan members that were not strong enough to face the threat I possess?"

The Sandaime's eyes widened a bit as he realized this quick show of force had just been turned on its head; before he could issue any orders he was interrupted.

"Worry not, for there is only I. As you should know, I am here for one thing and one thing only."

The teen crossed his arms and waited for the Hokage's response. Seeing this, Hiruzen decided to get things underway, though he did have a few questions.

"Before we continue, I wish to know your name. Though I have heard that you have refused to do so in the other villages, I would like to know who it is that has been making such waves in the Elemental Nations and I can still only marvel at how young you are, or at least appear to be."

"You are well-spoken Hokage. I have no way to prove my age though how I appear is not a trick or an illusion; I am nineteen years old. As for my name, I have never given it because no one has ever truly asked for it. I am Uzumaki Naruto, son of the late Uzukage."

At this there were many gasps of surprise but none so loud as the one that came from Uzumaki Kushina who had quickly broken ranks and rushed forward until she was a step away from the male redhead.

"Truly? Are you truly an Uzumaki? And the son of Uzukage-sama?" She questioned frantically, ignoring the calls from her friends and allies to get away from the man before her. She didn't care for their words however, not even from her Hokage. Here, before her eyes, stood a potential kinsmen and she wanted…no, _needed_ to know if his words were true.

"Yes. I have no reason to lie about my name or heritage though perhaps I should've kept my name to myself seeing as I now stand before this particular village."

Kushina blinked in confusion and leaned back.

"What do you mean by that? What's wrong with Konoha?" Behind her, a few eyes narrowed.

"I suppose nothing is 'wrong' with Konoha, though there is something wrong with their convictions to their allies. After all, where was Konoha when Uzu fell?" His question caused many eyes to widen, none moreso than Kushina who felt like something deep within her had broke.

"I'm not here for any of that. I am here to fight you, Sarutobi Hiruzen. If I had come here before going to Ame, then I would've also challenged your students but if I can beat Hanzo, then the Sannin are no match for me. I will also be challenging Namikaze Minato. A man who can decimate an entire army of enemy nin in less than a minute is someone I wish to pit myself against. None of your other shinobi are worth mentioning."

This declaration, of course, caused many to narrow their eyes in anger at the young man for publicly disparaging their worth as shinobi. The Sannin were amongst those to glare angrily at the young Uzumaki, Jiraiya had felt it was his place to put the brat in his place and had vanished and reappeared behind the boy, an arm cocked back and ready to strike the back of the Uzumaki's head.

Unfortunately for him, and to the shock of those watching, two chains made of chakra exploded around Naruto and struck at Jiraiya. The chains grabbed his readied arm, and one of his legs, before throwing him into, and through, a nearby tree.

Naruto blinked in slight surprise at how quickly Kushina had responded and he was only slightly unnerved at how she hadn't taken her eyes off him. Sighing and patting her gently on the head, he stepped around her to face the Hokage.

"Forgive her; I believe she is in a state of shock and no doubt her chains reacted by themselves. Now, if one of your Sannin cannot handle being attacked by one of your own, then it's even more apparent that they are no match for me. I, Uzumaki Naruto, hereby challenge Sarutobi Hiruzen and Namikaze Naruto each to a match. The winner is declared when his opponent forfeits or is no longer capable of fighting. Any other stipulations you wish to add?"

Hiruzen had been more than a little bit unsettled by the foreign Uzumaki's public declaration of Konoha's disregard of its ally which led to the destruction of Uzu, as well as the sudden, instinctive, actions of Kushina in protecting her kinsmen even if she wasn't yet cognizant of that fact. He stared at the young man for a few moments before nodding slightly.

"Yes, the matches will take place in two days time. I do not know whether or not you plan on staying here in Konoha afterwards, but I assume that young Kushina would like nothing better than to get to know you. I will also be assigning Minato as your guide within this village until our match."

Naruto shrugged, wondering if he should've seen this coming or not. Konoha was more like Kumo than they would like to admit and he knew they would try to use Kushina to get him to stay. He wouldn't deny that he wanted to find out what type of person his kin had grown up to be outside of Uzu.

"I agree, though I will warn you. As has been the norm for practically every other village I have entered, I will not entertain any attempts to coerce me into joining this village. I will not bother to listen to any marriage proposals or even donor proposals. I, especially, will not suffer fools who attempt to attack me either overtly or from the shadows. I am not implying that I expect an attack but I am simply being preemptive in the event that such an incident may occur so no actions will be taken against me for defending myself."

Hiruzen blinked at the, to him, random warnings the teen had gave though he supposed he could understand. Warily he nodded but quickly added his own opinion to the matter.

"_If_ you are attacked while staying within our walls, I will not attempt to punish you for defending yourself though I do ask that you spare the attacker's life and bring him to me. I am more than sure of your ability to accomplish both."

Naruto nodded hiss agreement before turning to look back at Kushina who was slowly coming back to her senses. Placing a hand on her shoulder, gaining her attention, he turned to face the Hokage and then Minato.

"I'm gonna go find some place to eat, most likely ramen." With that the two redheads vanished in a swirl of water. Minato who had been watching the foreign Uzumaki warily suddenly jumped into action when Naruto left along with Kushina. He wasn't exactly sure of his feelings yet but he did know he felt _something_ for Kushina and he could easily see how someone who had believed she was the last of her clan would jump at the chance to bring Naruto into her life; whether as a romantic partner or as a close friend he wasn't sure, no one could ever be sure when it came to how Kushina's mind worked.

Remembering Naruto's words about potentially going to eat ramen, Minato activated one of his Hiraishin markers and left in a flash of yellow to where a certain stand he frequented was located.

The gathered shinobi all slowly began to disperse at a gesture from the Sandaime though Koharu, Homura and Danzo stayed behind. There was going to be many discussions over the next two days. Such a strong young man, the last male of his clan, and he was now here in Konoha. His obvious dislike for Konoha due to Uzu's fall was apparent but the past was the past, perhaps he could be convinced to "bury the hatchet" so-to-speak and join Konoha proper. After all, one of his clansmen was here and the fact that she was a female and single swam in the minds of the four old friends.

After exchanging looks with the other three, Hiruzen looked upon his village and spoke.

"This is a situation that must be handled very carefully or we could lose any chance at gaining him as well as losing Kushina. If there is one thing that I know, however, is that we have not even begun to see beyond the surface of Uzumaki Naruto.

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><p><strong>Naruto is an Uzumaki through and through, hence the red-hair. But that doesn't mean I couldn't change it to where he is from the future or an alternate universe or something else. He'll have <em>some<em> similar personality quirks from his canon self but nothing too much. It's kinda hard to pin down how an Uzumaki naturally acts when you have examples such as Nagato, Karin, Mito and Kushina. Karin and Kushina are loud and quick-to-anger. Mito was dignified and Nagato was bat-shit crazy.**

**I didn't hint at it here, but Naruto is this world's counter-part to Master Samurai. He doesn't have a lord though, he is capable of "changing" on his own. The one thing I didn't put in here is Naruto's disgust for what the shinobi world has fallen too. In only a century, the state of shinobi had fallen from being legendary and awe-inspiring like Hashirama, Tobirama, Madara, Mito and the rest of the shinobi populace to only having a hand-full of notable shinobi and they are mostly all spread out. **

**Now, I know it seems like Naruto is godly right now seeing as he just went around and beat everyone he fought, and easily too. This was intentional. The world is going to change soon because of his arrival. Other "Master Shinobi"(going with this name for now) are going to start popping up. Some might be allies to Naruto while others will be enemies and of course the handful of neutrals. **

**As for Naruto and Kushina, because I know someone is eventually going to ask. They aren't mother and son here, and if I decide that is going to be the case despite my words just now, then they wont be a pairing...most likely...probably...maybe...I don't know. Whatever.**

**I don't know if Kushina will also become a Master Shinobi, or maybe Minato. Not sure yet, just wrote this today after thinking about it for a few moments.**


	18. 15, part 2

**Continued, sorta, from Chapter 15.**

"Ugh...wha?" Were the first intelligent words to escape Uzumaki Karin's mouth since she had first lost consciousness, then it all came rushing back to her and she jumped to her feet only to lose her balance and fall flat on her face. She groaned and made to push herself back up when someone scoffed behind her causing her to freeze.

"You know, I've never before seen such a clumsy and _weak_ Uzumaki before." '_Well, maybe myself when I was younger but that's in the past._'

Karin gulped as she rolled over slightly, hoping with all her might that it wasn't _him_ that was standing there looking down at her. Her hopes died a brutal death upon seeing the tanned, whiskered, face of the blond who had so suddenly appeared before Team Hawk and had then proceeded to ruin them.

* * *

><p><strong>An hour earlier.<strong>

Team Hawk, led by Uchiha Sasuke, were currently making their way towards the Land of Waves. Sasuke had learned of his current subordinate, Suigetsu's, desire to obtain all of the infamous swords of the Seven Swordsmen of Kiri. He only knew the location of one and used that information to bribe the former Kiri-nin to follow him. Despite his complaining about wanting to retrieve the sword right away, Sasuke was set on gaining the other two members of this little squad first. Juugo had been first and, after a rather short and disappointing fight in order to subdue the beast, the orange-haired young man had agreed to follow Sasuke for no other reason than Sasuke being able to keep Juugo "under control".

Karin had been next. She hadn't even been aware that Orochimaru was dead and so she was still acting as a warden for one of the many prisons the Snake Sannin had kept. She was even easier to convince to join the team than the other two. Sasuke wasn't very comfortable, or tolerant, of the fact that the girl seemed to be just another fan-girl and it was only made worse by the fact that her hair reminded him of Sakura which would immediately remind him of Naruto. It was inevitable that Sasuke had grown to increasingly dislike the redhead and her constant attempts at wooing him. He already had envisioned exactly how he was going to rid himself of her once she had led him to Itachi; over the course of their trip to Wave, that vision had become decidedly darker and lengthier.

Then, everything changed. The team of four had just arrived on the outskirts of Wave when Juugo fell to the ground; his head bouncing once on the ground before rolling to Sasuke's feet. The Uchiha only allowed a moment of surprise to flash across his face before he composed himself; Suigetsu had yelped in shock and Karin had screamed.

"Wh-wh-wh-what the fuck!" The wannabe swordsmen had shouted as he pointed unnecessarily at Juugo's decapitated head. Karin on the other hand was currently over on the edge of the path puking up everything she had eaten in the last week, or so it seemed.

Sasuke grit his teeth when Karin's noises ceased and her body rolled over a few times to the side. He wasn't sure yet whether or not she was still alive but from where he stood she didn't have any visible wounds. The Uchiha's temper was kept at bay only because Suigetsu had finally regained his senses and was now standing behind his leader with his back to him prepared for any assault.

"Come out, whoever you are. Only a coward would attack while his opponent's back is turned as well as striking at a weak female. Have you no pride?" Sasuke usually wasn't one for words, unless he was mocking someone like Naruto but that was an entirely different situation, but right now he needed something to soothe his frayed nerves. Even with his Sharingan activated after Juugo's death, he hadn't noticed a thing when Karin was struck next. Even now, there was nothing besides the surrounding trees; the dirt path; and the sound of waves lapping at the shore behind them.

That all ended when the sound of chirping birds filled the air causing Sasuke to launch himself forward, spinning in mid-air, his hands flashing through several hand-signs and ready to unleash a Katon jutsu at whoever was there. He faltered however when he saw a figure standing in front of Suigetsu, the person's hand wreathed in lightning and protruding from Suigetsu's back. Even with the boy's ability to change his entire body into water, it would've only done him more damage and still resulted in his death.

Sasuke's Sharingan spun as it took in the figure's appearance. ANBU, that was all that needed to be said. A plain white mask; the familiar gear that all black-ops soldiers wore; the hilt of a tanto sticking up from behind the operative's right shoulder and that was all. Whoever it was had been smart enough to cover their hair and neck with some sort of cloth. Sasuke couldn't even tell if the person was male or female. Still, whichever it was, successfully attacking his three subordinates was one thing, now the ANBU had an angry Uchiha to contend with and Sasuke was more than sure of how that was going to turn out.

* * *

><p>Karin wasn't sure why she wasn't crying. She wasn't sure why her eyes weren't even the slightest bit watery. The person she held such strong feelings for was lying at her feet, eyes unblinking, skin morbidly pale and he was completely unmoving. The only spot of color, other than his clothes, was the vivid and precise line of red going across Sasuke's neck. The wound was cauterized and so it hadn't bled, at least not externally. No doubt Sasuke hadn't even been able to choke on his blood when his throat was sealed shut.<p>

The girl shuddered as she turned away to look at the man that had so easily decimated her teammates. She had spared only a passing glance at Suigetsu and Juugo, she hated the former and had been frightened of the latter, they didn't mean even a tenth of what Sasuke had meant to her.

"So...is it my turn now?" She asked bitterly, staring from her place on the ground at the blond who was simply staring at the face of his mask that was currently being held in his hands. She hadn't known what to think, still didn't, when the man took off his mask and revealed his face to her. She didn't think she would honestly care if he explained why he had done so. Sasuke was dead and she had no reason to live, or so she told herself.

"Look at the names on this." He suddenly spoke and a thrown, folded up, piece of paper smacked into her face.

"WHAT THE FUCK! CAN'T YOU HAND IT TO ME LIKE A CIVILIZED PERSON?!" She screamed at him, momentarily forgetting that her life was currently held in the blond's hands.

"I could always kill you instead." He replied flippantly, not looking up from the mask. Karin gulped at this and then frowned as she begrudgingly unfolded the paper and righted it so she could read it properly; '_It's a list'_ was her first thought.

Her next thought wasn't so much a word or a sentence but rather an intense feeling of emotion. Absolute and utter revulsion mixed in with a healthy dose of fear. The list was composed of names. _Uzumaki_, names. There were a good two dozen of them, though only a few remained that were not crossed out. She didn't need a clarification to know what _that_ meant. She suddenly understood and that understanding only increased her fear as well as filled her with regret.

"Sasuke-kun died...because of me. You came here to kill me and he died simply because he was with me." She looked forlornly at the list, specifically her name on it. Before she was allowed to sink further into depression something flicked her forehead and the list disappeared from her hands.

Looking up she saw the blond folding the list up again before sliding it underneath his gear over his heart.

"Perish the thought, cousin. Actually, I wasn't even searching for you when I came across your little team. I only stopped because I recognized Uchiha Sasuke. You do know that he is a missing-nin of Konoha, do you not?" His voice was bland as he nonchalantly spoke of how random-chance was the reason that Sasuke, Suigetsu, and Juugo had lost their lives.

"If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a Konoha-nin. Seeing such a high-profile traitor of my village was something that I could not ignore. Actually, I'm kind of disappointed. I use to remember Sasuke being stronger, or at least, a challenge. He didn't even last a minute. Really, all I had to do was take off my mask and he froze in shock. That was all I needed to slit his throat. Now, I'll take his body back to Konoha and claim the bounty that Hokage-sama placed on him. I'll more than likely just burn the other two."

Karin simply stared up at him with dull eyes. She recognized the man now. Uzumaki Naruto. Sasuke had spoken of him once, way before his had planned on killing Orochimaru. She, in her curiousity to learn more about the '_handsome Sasuke-kun_' had asked Kabuto about it; after all, the white-haired teen had spent a long time in Konoha acting as a spy and had even fought against Naruto once. The blond before her had been described as a bleeding-heart; a naive child who didn't know what it meant to be a shinobi but counter-acted that with his strength and fierce determination. There was also the fact that he was a jinchuuriki.

Karin recalled that at one time, she had wanted to meet this Uzumaki Naruto. He was family after all, in a way. She wasn't exactly sure where their family lines crossed so it was safe to do as he had done and just refer to each other as "cousin". The man before her now though, was nothing like he had been made out to be. He had taken out Juugo without being detected and then had taken her out as well. From the looks of it, he had used a lightning attack on Suigetsu and, by his own words, used the surprising appearance and past with Sasuke to take out the Uchiha before the fight could be drawn out.

Her entire team, wiped out in a matter of minutes. She shook her head and slowly rose to her feet.

"I wont ask why you're killing off all of our family because I doubt you'll tell me, or at least I doubt you'll tell me the truth. So, just get it over with." With that said she closed her eyes and turned her head. A flick of her ear forced her eyes open and she was once again staring back at him.

"Idiot, if I was going to kill you I would've done it already. By the way, don't act so high and mighty in regards to me killing all those Uzumaki. For one reason or another they had it coming and I wont shed a tear for their deaths. It's not like you ever tried to get in contact with our extended family anyway, right?"

Karin glared at him and turned away with a huff. Even if he was right, it didn't mean she ever wished harm to befall her relatives. Even if she didn't know them; even if she never got to know them, they were family and that's all that mattered. The sound of footsteps brought her attention back to Naruto.

"You might want to move out of the way." He stated as he stood at the feet of Juugo and Suigetsu's corpses, his hands already flying through hand-signs. Karin yelped and quickly jumped out of the way as a white-hot ball of flame blew out of Naruto's mouth, increasing in size the further it got from him, and slammed into the two bodies. Naruto released the jutsu and walked over to Sasuke's body and without delay, hoisted the dead teen's body over his shoulder. He then turned back towards Karin causing her to freeze up.

"Well, see ya later." '_Simple as that and he just starts to walk away?!_' Karin screamed in her mind before she quickly ran forward and jumped in his path.

"What the hell? I thought you were going to kill me!" Naruto quirked a brow and shifted Sasuke's body slightly.

"Do you _want_ me to kill you?" He asked which prompted Karin to stumble backwards a few steps as she shook her head furiously.

"N-n-no!" Naruto shrugged as he side-stepped her and resumed walking, raising his mask to his face.

"Then get lost, cousin." Karin could only gape at the bastard who had killed her team, killed her crush, revealed that he had killed a lot of their family, made her think she was going to die next and was now just walking away.

"Hey! If you want me to get lost then you're going to have to kill me instead cuz since you took away Sasuke-kun, you're going to have to take his place!" Karin blinked, even as the words flew from her mouth and her brain tried to catch up, she wondered just what the hell she was saying.

"Guess you're going to die then." The blond had dropped Sasuke's body on the ground like it was trash and had closed the distance between them so fast that she had blinked and missed it all.

Blood sprayed and Karin's eyes widened as she watched the world go topsy-turvy, her head sailed through the air and she watched as her body slumped to the ground.

"Oi, stop that." Again, a flick, this time to her nose. Karin startled badly and she realized now that she was, in fact, _not_ dead and her head was still firmly attached to her shoulders.

'_phew_'.

"You're not coming with me. At best you'll be executed right away for consorting with two well-known traitors of Konoha...that is, of course, after torture and interrogation; at worse, you'll be placed in a breeding program to give Konoha a few baby Uzumaki, and when there are at least three males, you'll be killed. Get lost."

"Ya-you have to take responsibility for me!" She declared and wondered, yet again what she was talking about and why she was taunting death to it's face.

"Excuse me? Those words are to be used on someone who had just gotten you pregnant after a quickie. I killed your team, I didn't knock you up." Naruto once again had the dead Uchiha on his shoulder and was now staring back at Karin with a slightly confused expression. The girl had been floundering for a response when the middle part of his reply entered her thoughts and she flushed angrily.

"Hey! I'll have you know that it takes a lot more than a '_quickie'_ to get passed this body!" At this she struck a pose made to emphasize her lithe figure.

"You're a virgin aren't you?" The blond shook his head as he turned and began, once again, making his path away from Wave.

Karin had slumped over in shock and rejection. '_How could he know?'_ She then regained herself with '_He's bluffing!_' With that she rushed forward to catch up and proceed to maintain five yards behind him. She didn't care anymore about anything. Orochimaru was dead. Sasuke was dead. She had no family or friends. All she had was her familicidal cousin. Even if he was right about Konoha's reaction to her, she always had the pill hidden in one of her teeth. If it came to it, she'd take the pill and be gone from this world but if not...

Naruto tried again and again to convince the redhead to leave, he didn't care where she went, however he was rebuffed just as many times. His mission was over, as far as the Uzumaki's went. He didn't know why, nor was any reason given. He didn't really question it either but now, despite him heading back to Konoha, there was another Uzumaki following him and he could not bring up the willpower to kill her.

He had killed so many of his extended family. Cousins, uncles, aunts...most were married into the family and simply gained the status but, in one way or another, they were Uzumaki and they had perished. He had even killed his own mother as well as his half-brother. All of this, without hesistation. Yet this girl...

Well, they would both see what the Hokage's reaction to her would be once they arrived in Konoha, hopefully for the girl, she would be given a swift death. He had seen what can happen to a bloodline carrying female that landed itself on the wrong-side of Konoha.

* * *

><p><strong>and that's all she wrote! I'm thinking of making a few "sequel" chapters to some of the other one-shots. Any requests as to which should be next? I have quite a few ideas for each of them but if there is one that someone wants to see continued, please let me know.<br>**


	19. Albus Severus

**Brief scenarios (this may or may not continue into another chapter(s).**

* * *

><p><strong>The Naming of Albus Severus Potter:<strong>

"No." The plain, yet stern, voice stated.

"Aw, c'mon Gin! It's the _perfect_ name!" Harry James Potter, Boy-Who-Lived and Man-Who-Conquered, whined.

Ginny glared harshly at her husband and father of their two children, one of which was still growing in her belly, and with all the grace of a pregnant mother she marched up to Harry and, reaching out to grab him by his lapel, yanked him down so she could stare angrily into his eyes. She had to fight the fluttering in her chest at seeing those marvelous green..._'No!'_

"You listen here, Harry James Potter! I will_ not_ allow you to name our son, or _any_ our children that we may have in the future, after two men that made your childhood and time at Hogwarts _hell_! Do you understand me!?" Her voice, surprisingly, had not raised whatsoever, instead, she had almost been whispering and that had put the fear of his wife in him.

Still, he was confused about something.

"What are you talking about Ginny? I mean, I acknowledge Albus putting me with the Dursleys but I understand why he had to do it. And Severus...well, he had his reasons t..."

**_Slap!_**

Harry was wide-eyed, his face slightly turned from the right handed slap that had been delivered by his darling wife. By now, Ginny's entire frame was heaving with barely-restrained wrath.

Hermione Weasley nee Granger stood idly to the side, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed in front of her. She hadn't reacted on bit to the slap.

"You. Will. Listen. To. Me. _Dear husband!_ I conceded to your wishes when you wanted to forgive the _Malfoys_ of _all_ their wrongdoings from before you were even born to their good-for-nothing _piece-of-sh__ite_ son! Or did you forget it was their family that hosted you, Hermione and Ron and stood by while Hermione was _tortured_ in their very own home!?' Hermione looked away briefly as phantom pains surfaced but she pushed them away. Harry on the other hand had gone white at the reminder. 'Still! I conceded that you had forgiven them because that's who you are!."

Ginny grit her teeth as her next words came out.

"I _conceded_ when you forgave those animals you think of as relatives for _everything_ they ever done to you, and _still_ do whenever we _have_ to visit! But you just _had_ to forgive the Dursleys. _'It's what _Dumbledore _would've wanted_'you said.' Ginny sneered at those remembered words. 'However, I will _not _ concede to allowing a child of mine sharing a name with either of those two bastards!"

Harry could only stare in shock at his wife and just as he made to _try_ to refute his wife's words, he found himself on his back with a suddenly sore jaw.

_'Still has the right hook, I see'_

Ginny stood, with one foot on either side of her husband's sides, and simply looked down at him plainly.

"Do you remember, Harry? Do you remember all those times you complained about wanting to be just a _normal_ wizard? Do you?!" She raised her voice at the end, the anger boiling just below the surface as years of suppressed annoyance come to the fore. Harry nodded slowly, it was true after all, he just wanted to be normal and he had always hated his fame.

"You know' Ginny suddenly spoke, a thoughtful look on her face. 'Had you taken to politics like I suggested you should all those years back, there would be a very easy thing you could say right now that would cause me to give in to you without a fight. Too bad for you, you wanted to be _normal_." The sneer was back.

Hermione chuckled from the side, it was she after all that had thought of that angle Harry could've taken to get his way. It was also her that had told Ginny that Harry wouldn't do it because he didn't know about it. Ron hadn't been able to do it either when Hermione had suggested they name their first-born son after their best friend and the person that had made it possible for two such different people to ever find each other, much less fall in love. Ron, of course, had thrown a fit in jealousy for some reason and had suggested, instead, 'Hugo'. Hermione had put her foot down and that had been the end of that. Harry Weasley was born to the family much to Ron's consternation and Harry's embarrassment.

"But! You didn't want to do that, you wanted to be normal. You could've at least read up on our society's endless sea of rules and traditions but that wasn't for you either. So now, we are going to have our second son and his name will _not_ be 'Albus' or "Severus', nor will it be 'Remus' or anything of the like. In fact, 'Fabian' or 'Gideon'. Pick one, because that will be the first name. I'll let you know when I've chosen the middle name."

And with that, Ginny left. As she did, Hermione walked over to help her friend back to his feet and when she saw the look on his face she decided to nip this in the bud.

"Harry, think of our first year. Can you tell me how many different students share a name with the Headmaster?" She looked on expectantly while Harry wracked his brain before coming up short. She nodded and continued.

"Now, from second year to sixth, tell me how many students share your name." Again, he could answer with nothing.

"No one really does that kind of thing Harry. Sure, maybe _now _there are a few 'Harrys' out there, my own son included' Harry flushed in remembered embarrassment and Hermione rolled her eyes. 'It's not a normal thing, Harry. George did it with his son but I think that can be chalked up to a twin thing. Don't repeat this but, Ginny didn't even want to agree with the names you chose for your first-born."

Harry looked shocked by this revelation and before his usual depression, or anger, could enter the scene Hermione soldiered on.

"Harry James! You named your first-born after two men that barely had any impact on your life that you can recall! You never knew your father and that's a tragedy but even if he gave his life for you and your mum, you knew practically nothing about him until _far_ after graduation. It's the same for Padfoot, you only knew him briefly and whenever we were at headquarters you were always too busy moping about or being angry about something Dumbledore had done to truly get to know your Godfather. I'm guessing you wanting to honor him by naming your first-born after him, even as a middle name, is out of grief and guilt rather than a honest wish to honor him."

At his quick move into defense, Hermione smacked him lightly on the arm.

"You know it's true! That's the way you are Harry, it's always been like that. Back to what I was saying though, no one names their children after their heroes, hardly anyone even names their children after a relative either. You say you want to be normal yet you're going against the norm. Think about that Harry."

With that, she walked out to follow after Ginny leaving a thoroughly confused and defeated Harry Potter.


	20. So Mote It Be

**Harry being betrayed and put through trial for a crime he did not commit**

* * *

><p>It was all too much for Harry. He had been betrayed by practically every <em>friend<em> he had ever made and known in the magical world. From Dumbledore to Hermione and Ron. The entire Weasley family; Neville and Luna; hell, practically every member of the DA was in attendance.

As he looked on at the, either, disgusted or triumphant looks upon the seas of faces Harry made up his mind.

"Does the accused have anything he wishes to declare before sentencing is carried out?" The voice of Cornelius Fudge, re-instated Minister of Magic, called out.

"Yes.' His voice was hoarse from the yelling and crying he had done. His tears had run out. 'I do."

"Silence in the court!" Fudge roared. All was silent as the chained-up Harry James Potter shakily rose to his feet, he head lowered so his face could not be seen.

"If I am convicted, I will swear upon my life and magic to _never_ raise so much as a finger to stop the dark wizard Voldemort in order to save this world."

The declaration brought a heavier silence as all eyes widened at this though many instantly became scornful and disbelieving at the thought of a _boy_ being any help in the first place. It was Dumbledore, however, that was immediately concerned. He knew, after all, that only Harry could stop Tom. Before anything else, a voice suddenly shouted out; surprisingly it was Hermione and a quick glance in her direction and Harry was shocked to see her formerly disgusted eyes now looking caring and it was topped off with a wink.

_'Of course, who would take the words of a_ Mudblood_ defending her friend'_ He hoped he wasn't wrong about her simply keeping quiet due to her low status in the magical world.

"Do you mean _Dark Lord_, when you're referring to You-Know-Who?" Okay, he believed her. He understood immediately what she was aiming for. Quickly he pulled on his magic and was grateful for the shield that surrounded him as he intoned.

"I swear, upon my life and magic that the self-proclaimed Dark Lord Voldemort is, in reality, named Tom Marvolo Riddle; he's a half-blood just like me. Born to a love-potion using squib and a pathetic muggle. I also swear, upon my magic and life, that there is a prophecy that states only I can be the one to finally put an end to Tom Riddle. His actions when he tried to kill me that night, which gave me my scar, closed the circuit and put the prophecy in place. So I have spoken, So mote it be."

Harry grinned as the golden barrier that had surrounded him, which had come under-siege from many a spell and curse in order to silence him -one direction coming from Dumbledore himself- flashed and exploded outwards. Harry looked around.

"My words have been proven true by Magic itself. So, what are you gonna do Minister? Do you feel lucky?" Harry's grin widened at the memory of the film Hermione had recommended once and a look in her direction saw her shaking her head as she hid her face in her hands.

Dumbledore stood and opened his mouth in order to get this entire ordeal back under his control but Fudge, purple with anger was faster.

"Harry James Potter, by the power vested in my as Minister of Magic, I find you.' Dumbledore's eyes widened in horror.

"Cornelius! No!" His words fell on deaf ears.

"Guilty on all counts!" Fudge's triumph lasted for all of a second as Harry began to laugh uncontrollably. A feeling of dread settled upon the room as the golden barrier once again reformed around Harry and the boy stared straight at the Dumbledore.

"I, Harry James Potter, _Lord_ of Potter and Black! Hereby vow, upon my life and magic, I will _never_ raise a hand to save this world from Tom Riddle, also known as Voldemort! So I have spoken...'

"Stop him!" Dumbledore cried out as he brought his full magic to bear and tried with all his might to stop Harry from finishing the vow. He was the only one as everyone else stared in shock.

'...So mote it be." The magical explosion of the vow taking place and the prophecy acting out sent every witch and wizard to the floor.

When the chaos settled, two people were missing from the courtroom.


End file.
